Together with Pegasus, online magazine Donau and diaspora organisation Mara, we organise an afternoon with Belarusian poet in exile Hanna Komar and other guests to talk about poetry in the Belarusian language in the context of repression and change. We will close with a writing session for Belarusian prisoners. More information (the event will be in English).
On Friday, May 23, at bookstore Pegasus in Amsterdam, we welcome our guests the exiled Belarusian poet Hanna Komar and historian Suzanne Rademaker to discuss this topic.
In Belarus, members of the resistance movement against the regime of Alexander Lukashenko are increasingly using the Belarusian language in private circles. Although many people in Belarus are raised speaking Russian, a growing number choose to assert their identity and distance themselves from Russia by speaking and writing in Belarusian—and by raising their children in that language. Together with Hanna Komar, we will explore the importance of Belarusian poetry in this movement of resistance and change. Our second guest, Suzanne Rademaker, is a scholar of Slavic studies specializing in modern Belarusian and Russian history. In addition, members of the Netherlands-based Belarusian Book Club will reflect on the significance of poetry and literature for those forced to live far from home.
The conversation will be held in English. Poems will be read in Belarusian, as well as in English and Dutch translations. Attendance is free, donations for the organisation much appreciated
Please register: www.libereco.org/registration
