Beyond Prague / Jenseits von Prag

Why we support the project

• it has a strong international reach, including publication by a prestigious German publisher and a launch at the 2026 Frankfurt Book Fair
• its bilingual edition introduces Czech readers to German authors and their perspectives on the Czech Republic
• it connects literature with the media and audiovisual production, reaching a wide audience in Czechia and abroad
• it offers an innovative model of international cultural cooperation that reverses the usual direction of exchange
• it strengthens Czech-German cultural relations through literature
• it presents the Czech Republic beyond familiar tourist stereotypes and gives its regions a voice

About the project

In 2025–2026, the publisher Větrné mlýny is running a project with the provocative title Minout Prahu / Jenseits von Prag (Beyond Prague), which aims to offer fresh literary perspectives on the Czech Republic. Last year, twelve contemporary German-language authors from Germany and Switzerland each spent a month in residence in regional capitals across the country, excluding Prague and the Central Bohemian Region. Each author had just one task: to write a short story named after the city in which they stayed.

From the outset, the project has been conceived as a purely literary and artistic endeavour. The authors are therefore not producing reportage, essays or other forms bordering on journalism, but works of fiction: brief literary glimpses of everyday life in the Czech Republic, the paradoxes and achievements of Czech history, developments since 1989, or perhaps something entirely unexpected. They capture the atmosphere of Czech cities through the eyes of observers from outside the country.

This distance is precisely what makes it possible to offer unusual and authentic perspectives on the Czech “hinterland”: towns and places that, with few exceptions, are often overlooked by outsiders. Challenging stereotypes is one of the project’s aims, which is why Prague – a city most of the authors know, or at least have a preconceived idea of – has deliberately been left out.

The result will be a Czech-German bilingual anthology, to be published in Czechia in May 2026 and in Germany in autumn 2026 by the prestigious publisher Schöffling & Co. The German edition will be officially launched at the 2026 Frankfurt Book Fair, where the Czech Republic will be Guest of Honour.

The project will also be accompanied by an extensive media programme. Czech Radio will broadcast audio versions of the stories from October 2026. Since October 2025, Salon, the cultural supplement of the daily newspaper Právo, has been publishing an interview with one of the authors each month. Reportér magazine is also preparing a special feature on the residencies, while Czech Television is developing a documentary series based on the project, entitled První dojem (First Impression).