Villa Decius at BRaK festival 04.06.2026

The main highlight of our programme in Bratislava was a roundtable discussion bringing together representatives of literary institutions from across the Visegrad Group countries. The meeting was opened by Linda Kapustová Helbichová, Director of the International Visegrad Fund, whose support also makes it possible for Villa Decius to run programmes such as the Visegrad Literary Residencies. She reminded participants that it is only by acting together that we can form a strong regional representation and more effectively promote the culture of Central Europe. Among partners and friends, we exchanged experiences and ideas that may help develop more effective ways of supporting literature in the region. Participants in the discussion included representatives of the City of Bratislava, Ferenc Czinki, President of the Hungarian Writers’ Association, Zuzanna Bujačková representing BRaK, Rafał Majerek from the Jagiellonian University, and Alexandru Popescu, a literary expert and cultural diplomat representing Romania.

The BRaK Festival and Villa Decius are connected by many shared experiences and long-standing relationships. Thanks to the Visegrad Literary Residencies, which we have organised for many years, we maintain a strong presence within the Slovak literary scene, as well as in Czech and Hungarian literary circles. Many of the festival’s guests are current or former fellows of our programmes, or collaborators on other literary initiatives. It was wonderful to see so many books created during our residency programme displayed in Bratislava’s bookstores. We very much hope to further strengthen Polish-Slovak cooperation, as well as broader Visegrad collaboration in literature and culture. It is worth developing these ties, as we have much in common, and thanks to the invaluable support of the International Visegrad Fund, working together is not only easier but also more effective.

—Paweł Łyżwiński, Villa Decius literary programme coordinator

Our visit to Bratislava finally gave us the opportunity to meet many of our partners in person. We have worked together for years, often spending long hours seeing each other only through webcam windows during online meetings. Moving between festival venues, we also encountered many friends whom we first met through programmes organised by Villa Decius. One of them was Ivan Štrpka, an outstanding Slovak poet and one of the first participants in the Visegrad Literary Residencies.

We also attended a meeting with Tamara Duda, the Ukrainian writer whose text will appear in the upcoming issue of Radar. The size of the audience that an author event can attract in Bratislava could make the Polish literary scene envious.

Finally, during the fair section of the festival, we spent time in long conversations with Filip Ostrowski and Juraj Koudela, founders of the Žilina-based publishing house Absynt, which introduced literary reportage to the Slovak market. Juraj is also a Visegrad fellow and is currently in residence at Villa Decius. Absynt successfully publishes Polish literature, which enjoys considerable popularity on the banks of the Danube.

It is worth noting that the Slovak book market operates according to very different principles from the Polish one. It is more fragmented, books are more expensive, and they are most often purchased at the cover price. Despite this, the written word seems to be holding its ground. In the festival tent, we see vibrant contemporary literature and many young people who have come here for it. In the background, musicians are setting up for the evening concert. The atmosphere feels more like a neighbourhood gathering than an expo. We will be coming back.