Actress Jitka Nerudová will read excerpts from the novel translated by Marta Bartošková on board the ship (A)void Floating Gallery near Výton.

The heroine of the book Woman at 1000° is the 80-year-old Icelander Hera Björnsson, who spends her last days in a garage in Reykjavík. All the company does is a computer and a World War II grenade hidden under a duvet. When writing the novel, Helgason was inspired by the life of the granddaughter of the island’s first president, Brynhildur Georgía Björnsson. The book sparked a wave of protests from living relatives of prominent politicians as well as a wider debate about ethical boundaries in literature.

Helgason’s Hera, approaching death, does not lose the spark of life, and with a significant dose of courage, cynicism and humor, she looks back not only at her life, when she traveled the world and sought happiness in the arms of men, but also at the history of her country and the European continent. Her fate the impact of the vicissitudes of 20th century Europe. Experiences from the pre-war island and the wartime continent alternate in an engaging narrative. The novel was nominated for the Nordic Council Prize for Literature and the Icelandic Literary Prize.

Helgason is best known for his novels, but he also writes poetry and plays. According to literary critics, his books are characterized by originality and a distinctly critical view of the island’s present. Helgason is known for his sharp sense of humor and his work brims with sharp sarcasm. Several of his books have been made into films and at the end he has a number of nominations for the Icelandic Literary Award. In 2001, he won it for the book Author of Iceland, and in 2018 he received the Nordic Council Prize for Literature for the novel 60 kilos of sunshine. In addition to literature, he also deals with visual arts, he exhibited his paintings at more than twenty separate exhibitions.

The Central European Literary Festival Month of Author Reading was established in 2000 in Brno and over time has spread to other cities. This year, it will be held throughout July in Ostrava, Bratislava, Košice and Prešov. Author’s Reading Month starts every year on July 1 in Brno, and then after 31 days it most often moves from one host city to another. The main program offers two author readings daily: a guest of honor and a representative of domestic literature.