Ten writers from the ICORN network participate in the Authors' Reading Month Festival in the Czech Republic and Slovakia

Each year, the festival features 31 local and 31 international authors taking part in events in Brno and Ostrava (Czech Republic), Bratislava and Prešov (Slovakia), and Lviv (Ukraine). In 2025, 10 of the 31 international guests were ICORN writers and poets: Aslı Erdoğan, Fatemeh Ekhtesari, Ahmedur ‘Tutul’ Chowdhury, Aaiún Nin, Mohamedou Ould Slahi, Carlos A. Aguilera, Raafat Hekmat, Mazen Maarouf, Gunel Mövlud, Uladzimir Nyaklyayew.

The festival was widely covered by both local and international media across newspapers, TV, radio, and online platforms. All events in Brno were also live-streamed and can be watched on YouTube.

‍

Spotlight on writers in the ICORN network

The opening day of the festival, July 1, saw award-winning writer, journalist, and activist Aslı Erdoğan from Turkey and the event ‘And other places… ‘ in Brno. Erdoğan was in ICORN residence in Krakow between 2015 and 2016 and in Frankfurt between 2018 and 2020.

Fatemeh Ekhtesari’s event ‘Solitary confinement and prose poetry’ was presented across four cities Brno (8 July), Ostrava (9 July), Trenčín (10 July), and Bratislava (11 July). She also appeared at the Pohoda Festival in Trenčín, Slovakia’s biggest cultural event. Ekhtesari is an award-winning poet from Iran. She was ICORN resident in Lillehammer between 2017 and 2019.

Bangladeshi publisher and writer Ahmedur ‘Tutul’ Chowdhury featured in four events focusing on his work and career. The events were titled ‘The poet and writer who is an outcast everywhere, even in his homeland, Bangladesh’ and took place in Brno (9 July) Ostrava (10 July) Trenčín (11 July), and Bratislava (12 July). Like Ekhtesari, Tutul also appeared at the Pohoda Festival. He was ICORN resident in Skien between 2016 and 2018.

Poet, activist, and mixed media artist Aaiún Nin from Angola held a series of events from 12 to 15 July under the title ‘Oil of blood and our bodies tormented, exiled’. Nin’s work and the events during the Authors’ Reading Month Festival explored themes of gender, race, and sexuality in Nin was in ICORN residence in Krakow (2021- 2023) and in Bern (2023- 2025).

Between 15 and 19 July, Mauritanian writer Mohamedou Ould Slahi presented and discussed his memoir Guantánamo Diary at across all four festival cities, under the titled ’Writing the diaries of CIA kidnapping, writing Guantánamo Bay for freedom, freedom, freedom’. Slahi, who was detained without charge at Guantánamo Bay from 2002 to 2016, was the ICORN resident in Amsterdam between 2022 and 2024.

Cuban writer Carlos A. Aguilera and the event ‘Cuban New (Maoist) Democracy and the yellow-bellied sparrow of Havana’ were also presented in Brno, Ostrava, Prešov, and Bratislava (16–19 July). Aguilera was ICORN resident in Frankfurt (2007–2009) and Hannover (2010–2012).

Syrian poet and short story writer Raafat Hekmat participated in the ‘Syrian museum of rubble and hunting trophies’ series events, 19-22 July across the four cities. In September 2023, Hekmat arrived in Stockholm, where he is the ICORN resident for the period 2023-2025.

Palestinian-Icelandic writer, poet, translator, and journalist Mazen Maarouf presented ‘Jokes for gunmen under camera surveillance’ from 20 to 23 July across Brno, Ostrava, Prešov, and Bratislava. Maarouf was the ICORN resident in Reykjavík between 2011 and 2013.

Gunel Mövlud, the journalist, poet, and translator from Azerbaijan, also participated in four events between 24 and 27 July under the title ‘The scent of a tea rose and a bullet faster than flight’. Mövlud was the ICORN resident in Levanger (2016-2018).

Belarusian writer and poet Uladzimir Nyaklyayew’s events closed the festival with the event series ‘When everything collapsed, one fell in love’ during its last days, 30 July- 2 August. Nyaklyayew was in ICORN residencies in Lund (2019-2021), Krakow (2021-2022), and Wroclaw (2023-2025).