The Authors' Reading Month literary festival in 2023 is a series of daily literary events in Brno, Ostrava, Bratislava and Prešov starting on July 1st and ending on August 3th.

Brought to You By
Větrné mlýny & NORLA
Provoz u řeky​
Literarnyklub.sk — občianske združenie
OZ Slniečkovo a Krajská knižnica P. O. Hviezdoslava v Prešove
Мистецька Рада "Діалог"

What is Authors' Reading Month?

The literary festival entitled Authors’ Reading Month was first held in year zero of the third millennium in the city of Brno and has spread into a number of other cities in the meantime. In summer 2023 the festival takes place in Brno, Ostrava, Bratislava and Prešov. The 2023 guest of honour is Norway. 
The focus of the festival is twofold. On one hand, it concentrates on presenting the national literature of the hosting countries; on the other, it also selects a fifth country each year to become the ‘Guest of Honour’, and presents its literature as well.  The festival starts on July 1st every year, and the participating cities host various events for the following 31 days. Two authors are introduced each day – one visiting and one local. All in all, every city will host sixty-two writers throughout the month of July, as well as over three hundred authors' readings and accompanying programme.

A Year of ARM in Numbers
100 writers
2 countries & 4 cities
20,565 visitors
6,200 online visitors
512 minutes of literary film essays
600 minutes of radio reporting
1,850 minutes of live radio broadcasting 
410,000 words in translation
 

Past Guests of Honour
2022 – čestný host Island
2021 – Slovakia
2020 – Hungary
2019 – Romania
2018 – Turkey
2017 – Georgia
2016 – Spain
2015 – Ukraine
2014 – Scotland
2013 – Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Switzerland
2012 – Slovenia
2011 – Poland
2010 – France
2009 – Austria
2008 – Canada
2007 – Belarus
2006 – Berlin
2005 – Slovakia

Selected Extra Activities

The Film Reader – an Audiovisual Anthology

A literary film series created during the festival, which introduces the visiting writers. These series are standalone television anthologies of contemporary world literature, presenting portraits of individual writers from the original viewpoint of international documentary film directors. In addition, they map the contemporary literature of various, mainly European, countries. Each episode has a runtime of 8 minutes and offers a freeform film essay reflecting the personality of the starring writer and their work. The series are far removed from dry (or, on the contrary, magazine-style) televised book clubs, instead offering a vibrant and interesting rendezvous with literature. This is supported by the form – a documentary essay – but also by the fact that each episode is directed by a different director. These Film Readers are broadcasted by the national televisions of Slovakia, Poland, Ukraine and the Czech Republic, and also by that year’s Guest of Honour.
Please see the following links for examples:
The Scottish Reader –
Don’t Worry, Be Scottish
The Ukrainian Reader –
Give, Ukraine, Give
The Spanish Reader –
The Brothers and Sisters of Don Quixote of La Mancha
etc.

The MAČ365.CZ Online TV

These commentaries are either grouped together under one topic (e.g. When Images Are Not Enough, A Dictatorship of Information, The Ukrainian Reader, The Scottish Referendum, etc.), or published as standalone instalments reflecting individual events, such as anniversaries, obituaries or prizes. The MAČ365.CZ projects keeps the festival alive throughout the year, and even more so during the event itself, when it is used a platform for broadcasting readings from all five participating European cities. Starting in 2018, the project will also have a base in Poland, Macedonia and Finland, and will become accessible to the English-speaking audience.