What connects Václav Havel to Ostrava’s Hranečník? Surprisingly, quite a lot. Join us on a literary journey through the places where the stories of Václav Havel and his family, the working class of Ostrava, the dissident movement, and the struggle for freedom of speech intersect.

We’ll go back to the time when Hranečník was a mining colony and recall the local reading club Salm as well as Havel’s great-grandfather, Čeněk Vavrečka. We’ll also talk about Havel’s grandfather, Hugo Vavrečka, a writer, politician, and leading figure at the Baťa company. We’ll also discuss Havel’s imprisonment in Ostrava-Heřmanice, the “Letters to Olga” he wrote there, and his relationship with the Ostrava dissident Jaromír Šavrda. We’ll also touch on a lesser-known chapter of Havel’s relationship with Ostrava—his contacts with the workers of Nová Huť and the workers’ Committees for the Defense of Freedom of Speech.

We will connect historical events and specific locations with readings from the works of Václav Havel, Hugo Vavrečka, the period press, and other sources. But the present will also play a role in the story: at each stop, there will be readings by contemporary authors whose works address themes of freedom, dissent, the underground, and civic courage.

We will conclude the tour with the launch of a new puzzle map of the Ostrava Cultural Trails, which will highlight the places and stories connected to Havel’s legacy in Ostrava.

Meeting place: Hranečník

The event is organized by Fiducia as part of the Havel and Ostrava festival, whose main organizers are the Pavel Tigrid High School and Educa 24.