De Staat van de Europese Literatuur 2025: Andrej Koerkov
Op 21 mei spreekt de Oekraïense schrijver Andrej Koerkov de zevende Staat van de Europese Literatuur uit, onder de titel ‘A Garden of Unwritten Books’. De lezing vindt plaats in de Aula van 20.15 tot 21.45 uur.
English text follows below Dutch.
Let op: de voertaal is Engels.
De Staat van de Europese Literatuur is een jaarlijkse lezing door een vooraanstaande auteur of dichter van internationale faam, over de staat van de literatuur en van Europa vanuit het perspectief van de literatuur.
Andrej Koerkov (1961) werd geboren in de Sovjet-Unie. Hij schrijft in het Russisch en Oekraïens. Koerkov schreef meer dan 20 romans en 10 kinderboeken, en zijn werk is vertaald in 45 talen. Zijn boeken zitten vol zwarte humor, post-Sovjet-realiteit en elementen van surrealisme. Behalve fictie schrijft Koerkov ook essays over de huidige situatie in Oekraïne en over de geschiedenis en cultuur van het land. Zijn bijdragen worden regelmatig gepubliceerd in onder meer The Guardian, Financial Times, New Statesman, The Spectator en andere media.
Na het uitspreken van de Staat van de Europese Literatuur zal Koerkov in gesprek gaan met schrijver Tommy Wieringa. Nederlands literatuurcriticus, auteur en journalist Margot Dijkgraaf zal het gesprek leiden.
In zijn lezing ‘A Garden of Unwritten Books’ zal Koerkov ingaan op wat er gebeurt wanneer verhalen worden afgebroken door geweld, dood of politiek – en hoe literatuur dan toch blijft leven. Zie onderaan de pagina voor een excerpt.
The State of European Literature 2025: Andrey Kurkov
On 21 May, Andrey Kurkov will deliver the seventh State of European Literature, titled ‘A Garden of Unwritten Books’. The event will be held in the Aula from 20:15 to 21:45.
The State of European Literature is an annual lecture delivered by a prominent author or poet of international renown about the state of literature and Europe from the perspective of literature.
Andrey Kurkov (1961) was born in the Soviet Union. He writes in Russian and Ukrainian. Kurkov is the author of over 20 novels and 10 books for children, and his work is currently translated into 45 languages. His books are full of black humour, post-Soviet reality and elements of surrealism. Apart from fiction, Kurkov writes essays and diaries about the current situation in Ukraine and about the history and culture of the country. These essays and articles are regularly published in The Guardian, Financial Times, New Statesman, The Spectator and other media.
After delivering the State of European Literature, Kurkov will enter into conversation with writer Tommy Wieringa. Dutch literary critic, writer and journalist Margot Dijkgraaf will moderate the discussion.
In his lecture ‘A Garden of Unwritten Books’, Kurkov will explore what happens when stories are cut short by violence, death or politics – and how literature still finds ways to survive:
Unwritten books
Where authors have become trees,
That no longer bear fruit.
How to cure wounded literature and bring life back to the orchard.
Famous unfinished books
Every dead author has a last book. It’s either finished or unfinished.
Books left unfinished due to natural causes are simply a good quest, some of them were finished by friends, relatives or fans, sometimes decades after the writer’s death.
Books left unfinished because the author was killed belong to a different category of unfinished books. They may remain unfinished forever, turning into monuments to the writer’s unjust death, while the absence of an ending can provoke more reflection than the text that was written before a bullet or a missile interrupted the writing process.
Each man and woman is a novel, every child is a story, each country is also a story or set of stories. These stories are happily or unhappily interacting and thus creating the reflection of what we are calling “life”.
Geopolitical story-telling – this is what Ukrainian writers are doing now. They are trying to explain the story of Ukraine and how, in Russia, Ukraine’s authentic story has stirred a desire to destroy its authors and, indeed, the story itself.
