See what’s coming up on on the BCSA’s Events Calendar.

Gaudeamus – a Slovak novel by Richard

Slovak Embassy 25 Kensington Palace Gardens, London, United Kingdom

This thriller/ love story reflects - and is critical - of the atmosphere and in particular people's mindset first in normalized Czechoslovakia and then in post-1989 Slovakia. The author and the translator, David Short, discussed the book, read out passages in Slovak and English and answered questions. Here are a couple of quotes: “We hoped... Read more »

The Labyrinth of Czech History

Imperial Stables, Prague Castle Prazsky hrad - II. nadvori, Prague 1 Hradcany, Czech Republic

A Prague exhibition of rare Czech historical documents, including Vladislav's privilege of 1158, the oldest preserved document proving the existence of the Czech state. Visitors go back in time from modern history until the very beginning of the Czech history. Various media evoke the atmosphere of particular periods, such as video recordings of television news... Read more »

Working with Vaclav Havel and Czech culture in New York

Czech Embassy cinema 26 Kensington Palace Gardens, London

Reminiscences of Edward Einhorn, American theatre director and writer In honour of Vaclav Havel's 70th birthday, at the time of his residency at Columbia University, Untitled Theater Company #61 and other artists and companies from New York and around the USA came together in 2006 to present, for the first time anywhere, the complete plays... Read more »

Czech & Slovak Tech

Slovak Embassy 25 Kensington Palace Gardens, London, United Kingdom

Following the formal AGM, Roger Aitken, a Forbes contributor and ex-FT staff journalist, delved into the extent of inventions. The Czech and Slovak lands could be said to have punched above their weight when it comes to inventors and their inventions. There is even an old adage - Zlate ceske rucicky a chytre ceske hlavicky... Read more »

Leamington Music Festival Weekend

Friday 4 May at 7.30pm Prazak String Quartet, Ivan Klansky (piano) Suk - Meditation on the Old Czech Chorale 'Saint Wenceslas' Smetana - Quartet no 1 Dvorak - Piano Quintet Saturday 5 May at noon Prazak String Quartet Suk - Quartet no 1 Smetana - Quartet no 2 Dvorak - Quartet no 10 Saturday 5... Read more »

‘New’ fiction from ‘Old’ Czechoslovakia

Waterstones 82 Gower Street, London

Tim Beasley-Murray, translator David Short and Slovak author Richard discuss three novels from the country that would have been 100 years old this year but disappeared 25 years ago. £8 tickets (£6 student) are available via Eventbrite (below) and in store.

Iva Bittova & Abraham Brody

Rich Mix 35-47 Bethnal Green Rd, London

The premiere of a playful new lyrical collaboration drawing separately from Czech and Lithuanian folk traditions. Iva Bittova is a Czech avant-garde violinist, singer, and composer; her music is a blend of rock and East European music. Lithuanian-American musician, composer and performer, Abraham Brody draws inspiration from rituals, roots and folklore; he combines composition, improvisation... Read more »

Czechoslovakia 100

Cardiff University

The British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies (BASEES) Czech and Slovak Study Group is marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Czechoslovak state with a Czech and Slovak Study Day held at Cardiff University. Czech and Slovak specialists (including language experts and postgraduate students) from around the UK, together with Czech... Read more »

From asylum seeker to UK policeman, a talk by Petr Torak MBE

Czech Embassy 26-30 Kensington Palace Gardens, London

Born in Liberec in the Czech Republic to Roma parents; after several racially motivated attacks, the family moved to the UK and applied for asylum. He joined the Cambridgeshire Constabulary as a Police Community Support Officer in 2006 and two years later became a Police Officer. In 2010 Torak co-founded a community group COMPAS (see... Read more »

Dvorak’s less familiar career: networking in the salons of Prague and the long road to operatic success

Czech Embassy cinema 26 Kensington Palace Gardens, London

Although Dvorak is unarguably the best-known composer from the Czech lands, his fame rests largely on music from his later years. His early path to recognition, however, throws fascinating light on the friendships and support he received from the leaders of Prague’s developing cultural community. Jan Smaczny’s talk looks at how Dvorak became recognised in... Read more »



BCSA makes an effort to ensure that information contained in these pages is accurate.
However, no liability is accepted arising from reliance upon the information contained in these pages or any other information accessed via this site.