The Europe Readr project, launched in 2021 by the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, has already completed almost three months of activities around the world. Indeed, from Egypt to Finland, from Japan to Croatia, worldwide clusters of EUNIC and Slovenian Embassies from numerous countries have been cooperating to engage local citizens into events related to literature, reading habits, and sustainability, while reflecting on the value of diversity in the EU.
Read more about Europe Readr, the involvement of EUNIC Netherlands with this project, and access the online platform for free to find and read 27 books from 27 EU countries, in both English and their original language.
Since early 2021, EUNIC Netherlands has worked with several Dutch partners to organise different events to support the Europe Readr platform, promote reading culture, and provide with food for thoughts about the sense of being part of such diverse community. What can we all do as citizens to make our lives more sustainable with simple daily actions? The ‘Future of Living’ was chosen as theme for the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU and for its cultural flagship project, Europe Readr. Following this fil rouge, EUNIC Netherlands is ready to deliver its Europe Readr Kick-Off event, a thrilling live Talk Show taking place on September 22 from 19:00 to 20:00 in OBA Amsterdam’s Theatre, where we will also inaugurate the stunning Reading Pavilion designed and built for Europe Readr by a group of Architecture students of TU Delft.
Read here how to register for our free Kick-Off event, and find out more about the students' art installation.
The Talk Show planned for the Europe Readr Kick-Off event in the Netherlands will have at its focus the Future of Living, seen and thought from the perspective of our international guests. How do you imagine your future? What does the world you want to live in look like? With a climate crisis, shifting global powers, and artificial intelligence changing the world as we know it, how do we imagine our societies on the Earth of tomorrow? Literature – like cinema, architecture, and art – is crucial in helping us imagine our future. How can it help Europeans to form a shared vision? What should we consider when thinking of the upcoming years? What are the books all Europeans – from children to politicians – should have on their nightstand?
EUNIC Netherlands is happy to present you its panel of great European writers and thinkers that will explore these questions with you in a dazzling Talk Show.
Mr Georg Vrachliotis is Professor and Head of the Theory of Architecture and Digital Culture Group at TU Delft.
He critically explores the technological conditions under which architecture and cities in the age of global digital infrastructures emerge, from small to large scale and from everyday practice to the very big picture. What does it mean to design in a society that seeks its balance between the datafication of all areas of life, increasingly rapid global migration, and urgent environmental issues?
Georg is among the professors that guided the group of Architecture students who built the stunning EuropeReadr pavilion.
Mr Drago Jančar was born in Maribor, Slovenia, in 1948. He studied law, and worked as a journalist, editor, and freelance writer, both in Germany and the US.
Slovenia’s most prominent author saw his novels and short stories translated and published in several languages across Europe and America: he has been described as “the seismologist of a chaotic history.” Among his many awards, in 2003 he was awarded the Herder Prize for literature and, in 2021, his masterpiece ‘The Tree with No Name’ was selected as Slovenian book for the EuropeReadr online collection.
Click here to read for free his book on the Europe Readr platform.
Ms Marieke Eyskoot is a sustainable fashion and lifestyle expert. a sought-after speaker, presenter, and consultant, and co-founder of international fair fashion trade show MINT.
In 2018 she published This is a Good Guide – for a sustainable lifestyle, a handbook of practical tips on fashion, beauty, food, home, work, and leisure. It’s about good, not perfect: about smart choices, doing what you can and what suits you, and makes green living fun and doable. Established go-to person when it comes to commenting on developments in sustainable lifestyle, Marieke was nominated by Het Parool as ‘Amsterdam Citizen of the Year’.
Official website. Photo of Melody Lieftink.
Mr Marek Šindelka is a Czech poet and novelist who made his debut with the volume of verse ‘Strychnin’ (Strychnine), for which he was awarded the Jiří Orten Prize 2006. Two years later he published his first novel ‘Chyba’ (Aberrant), the book from Czech Republic selected for the free digital library Europe Readr.
The young author was awarded with the Magnesia Litera Prize 2012, and was nominated for the Josef Škvorecký Prize 2012. His books have already been translated into several languages.
Click here to read for free his book on the Europe Readr platform. Photo of Vladimír Šigut.
Finally, let us introduce our moderator of the Talk Show, Rogier Elschout.
Mr Rogier Elschout is a professional moderator since more than ten years, with over 13 years of experience in EU events.
Expert in online events and known for his humour, he provides with interactive events that keep the audience engaged, involved, and satisfied. Shifting comfortably from serious meetings to award shows, Rogier is the moderator of the talk show ‘Brussels Bubbles’, and founder of the collective of European moderators moderating.eu.
Official website. Photo of Gaby Jongenelen.
You can read more about EUNIC Netherlands and Europe Readr here on our website and on our Facebook page, and find useful information about the Talk Show and the inauguration of the Reading Pavilion on the Facebook Kick-Off event. See you in OBA Amsterdam on September 22!
