Tell us why you want to visit Prague and we’ll give you a copy of this book.
Layag is available at National Bookstores, Php250.
Layag: European Classics in Filipino contains fourteen short stories by writers from eleven European countries. Included are works by the Italian Luigi Pirandello, Polish Henryk Sienkiewicz, Austrian Stefan Zweig, French Guy de Maupassant, Czech Karel Capek, and German Erich Kästner. This anthology is published by Anvil in cooperation with EUNIC, a European network comprised of cultural institutes and embassies.
The project is the brainchild of Jaroslav Olša, Jr., the Czech Ambassador to the Philippines. A former translator, editor and publisher himself, Olša sees literature as a very effective tool of cultural promotion. “There are many tools for public diplomacy, such as films, music and the arts. But I believe literature is something that has a really long-lasting impact,” he said. His plan is to establish and maintain two-way literary traffic between the Czech Republic/Europe and the Philippines. Recently Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis was published in Filipino and Bikolano, and Karel Capek’s play R.U.R. was staged by Tanghalang Ateneo. Upcoming projects include an anthology of stories by contemporary Filipino writers, translated into Czech.
Would you like a copy of Layag? Tell us why you want to go to Prague. Post your answer in Comments by Friday, 2 June 2017. Five winners will each receive a copy of Layag in the mail.
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Our winners are popong, alphaeus7,kotsengkuba, galleyproof, and Bingka. Congratulations! Please email your full names and mailing addresses to saffron.safin@gmail.com so we can send you your copies of Layag.
Stay tuned for the next contest. I’m giving away the new Haruki Murakami.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
May 29th, 2017 at 10:48
I want to go [again] to Prague since it’s cheaper than Vienna; I can enjoy their trdelnik and their overpriced ham, afterwards a warm sausage or a beer while waking on a rainy afternoon in Karluv Most. I can also go to a time machine where Amadeus was filmed, and look forward to know the interesting Czech culture by understanding Franz Kafka and having a walk at the Jewish Cemetery.
May 29th, 2017 at 13:17
I want to hear the Game of Thrones Symphony performed live by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. I’d love to experience the winds of winter, even if only in my ears.
May 30th, 2017 at 08:29
Kafka. Kundera. Karbanatek. Kolache.
The first two to nourish my literary soul; the other two to fuel the long walks.
May 30th, 2017 at 14:12
Because Belami Boys.
May 30th, 2017 at 14:40
I wanted to visit Prague to see their interesting array of classic roofs and the overall architecture. Also I’d like to see the anatomically correct pissing statue in front of the Kafka Museum. How about that?
May 30th, 2017 at 15:59
I want to visit Prague because it’s cheaper there, together with Slovakia, Hungary, and Croatia. I also want to walk the Charles Bridge on a foggy night in a filmy chiffon dress, one that trails on the cobblestones. I will trail my fingers on it’s rails, and finally lean against the abutment in sheer exhaustion at my utter gorgewsnez. Of course, someone should take my picture at the exact moment my face is lifted towards the light of the weak moon.
May 30th, 2017 at 22:54
I want to visit Prague for José Rizal once visited this place, who was toured by his good friend, Professor Ferdinand Blumentritt. In this way, I may learn something more about the cultural relationship of Filipinas and Czech Republic. I also want to walk thru it the places where Rizal had been. For this might be a way in order for me to totally understand the persona of one of our national heroes. Finally, it will surely equip me with some experiences which will be essential to totally comprehend my identity as a Filipino, just like Rizal.
May 31st, 2017 at 04:17
Luck first brought me to Prague a few years ago. At that time, I was too invested in my studies to learn more about the city before travelling, and I felt like I wasted the trip by wandering the city not knowing anything on it. It was also done with 40 plus people. Just imagine how we were quickly ushered from landmark to landmark, ticking items off of a virtual checklist the tour guide whipped up for us.
I only truly knew the wonder of the city, how it came to be, history and culture, all after that initial trip. I go deep into my speil every time I hear somebody planning to go to Prague. You have to see astronimical tower, it is an exquisiite mechanism! You should try reading a Kafka book to appreciate his life there! Go to St Charles Bridge, and wait for sunset to see it at its best!
I realized now how I sound like my Praha tour guide, making lists for other people to experience. To visit Prague once again to fulfill my own checklist will be nothing short of a dream come true.
May 31st, 2017 at 09:08
As a lover of arts and culture, I would like to go to Prague because of its rich history and outstanding built heritage. Traces of cultural influences from Central Europe can be found in Prague/ Czech Republic. As David Zábranský, CzechLit Editor-in-Chief mentioned, the Czech Republic acts as “reservoir from which fresh impetus can emerge.”
May 31st, 2017 at 12:23
I am drawn to the many stories of Prague. In 2010, I brought Prague in my Journalism Class thru my Czech Journalist friends. Their untold story of Velvet Revolution or Gentle Revolution in 1989 reverberated in the classroom. Since then, it was a never ending quest to discover and explore Prague.
This time, I would like to invite my former students to visit Prague to experience nobility, Christianity and beauty of its people, culture, language and love.
I would like to witness and reconnect to a Czech mother who has an extraordinary love for an adoptive Filipino child, treating the child as her own.
And the same way that I love Prague as my own. (A to stejnym zpusobem, ze miluji Prahu jako moje vlastni.)
May 31st, 2017 at 13:08
i want to go to prague because it’s underrated and not overrun by tourists.
i want to go to prague because i’ve never been there.
May 31st, 2017 at 21:52
In Laurent Binet’s HHhH, the most enjoyable read I had last year, a truly moving part was the the last stand of Gabcik and Kubiš, which took place in Ss. Cyril and Methodius Cathedral in Prague. I would like to see this church and the city that Binet obsessed about, a city I fondly associate with my favorite Milan Kundera.
June 3rd, 2017 at 20:03
THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.