The Festival of the European Short Story will take place in Zagreb and Rijeka from 7 to 14 May 2006. We will host two events in our centre in Ilica 12. On Monday 8 May at 1600 Helen Walsh, the young British writer from Liverpool who is kicking up a storm in the British media, will be reading from her short stories. Helen Walsh was born in Warrington in 1977 and moved to Barcelona at the age of sixteen. In 2000 she graduated Sociology from the Liverpool University and did her dissertation on queer theory, masculinities and pornography. These themes also underline some of her short stories.

On Tuesday 9 May at 1430 there will a lecture and discussion “Literature across Frontiers”. Guests Alexandra Büchler, Faith Liddell, Diana Reich and Sinéad Mac Aodha will be talking about different types of frontiers that are imposed upon literature and the ways to overcome them.

Alexandra Büchler is Director of Literature Across Frontiers, a program of international literary exchange and policy debate, based in the UK , and Editorial Director of the European Internet Review of Books and Writing, Transcript.

Faith Liddell is the Project Manager for story, the UK-wide campaign to celebrate the short story. She is also devising an international literature strategy for the East England and working as a producer for the newly formed National Theatre of Scotland and the acclaimed Scottish theatre company Suspect Culture.

Diana Reich is the Artistic Director and co-founder of the only UK based Short Story Festival, Small Wonder. This takes place at Charleston, the former home and meeting place of the influential Bloomsbury Group of artists, writers and intellectuals. She also founded the high profile Charleston Literary and Cultural Festival, which is held in May each year and runs literary events in other contexts, such as the London Book Fair. Her previous roles include Director of English PEN and administering the Orange Prize for Fiction.

Sinéad Mac Aodha is the director of Ireland Literature Exchange, the national organisation responsible for the international promotion of Irish literature. She served as literature officer at the Arts Council from 1995 to 2003.

For the events in our centre please book your place at 01 4899 500 or send us an e-mail.