Martin Škabraha at the Visegrad Literary Residency

In 2021, thanks to the Visegrad Literary Residency, eight authors will once again have the opportunity to spend six or twelve weeks in a peaceful inspiring setting where they can fully concentrate on their writing. The shorter, spring edition of the program was moved from May to July due to the pandemics. We are very much looking forward to welcoming our residents in Bratislava for this special summer residency. We are be introducing all four residents on our website, and today, it is Martin Škabraha. 

Martin Škabraha is a Czech philosopher, who works at the Academy of Visual Arts in Prague at the moment. He prefers areas where academic disciplines meet with social engagement. His texts are published in print as well as online, and he is also the auhor of the critical reflection of Terrence Malick's films, titled Vyhnáni do ráje (Banished to Paradise, Univerzita Palackého, 2015).

In Bratislava, he will work on two projects that share a historical theme: The Great Moravian Empire and its image in the national Czech, Moravian and Slovak mythologies. The first output will be a historical essay, in which he plans to look at the different work with historical sources, and at the impact nationalistic tendencies had at their interpretation. He will also research the role the Great Moravia narrative had played in conceiving the idea of Czechoslovakia. 

Škabraha's second creative project is the historical novel Kníže (Prince), which follows the fate of Prince Mojmír, set against the backdrop of the events surrounding the acceptance of Christianity in the Great Moravian Empire in the year 831. The base for his ambitious book came to being during his residency in the monastery in the Czech Broumov. He chose Bratislava as the place for his Visegrad residency not only for its connection to the historic theme, but also for a physical connection to the place where the book plot takes place -- the topos of Devín plays an important role, too.  

We do hope that Martin Škabraha, together with the rest of the Visegrad residents, will have an inspiring creative stay in Bratislava.