THE WOMAN BEFORE THE HIGHEST WALLS: RESISTANCE, TRAUMA, HOPE
Panel with authors: Petra Klabouchová (Czech Republic) and Seray Şahiner (Türkiye)
Moderators: Aleksandar Madjarovski and Dragica Stamenkovikj
Two powerful literary voices from different parts of Europe — Czech writer Petra Klabouchová and Turkish author Seray Şahiner— meet in a joint literary eve to address the most sensitive, but also the most important, issues of today: the position of women in societies marked by political repression, silence, class injustices and violence.
Petra Klabouchová combines the documentary and the fictional, bringing to life testimonies of political prisoners in the former Czechoslovakia and revealing silent war crimes in border regions. Her prose is an exploration of historical memory and its impact on the present.
Seray Şahiner incorporates the stories of Turkish working- class women into powerful, humorously-ironic, but also deeply moving narratives. Her heroines, like the young Leyla, struggle with poverty, violence and social stigma, while preserving their humanity and dignity.
The event will take place as a conversation about how literature illuminates the dark side of history and everyday life, how personal and collective traumas are transformed into art, and how women's voices — from both East and West — become chronicles of resistance and hope.
