Please join UCLA Library and the Czech Consulate General in Los Angeles for a reading and Q&A with Bianca Bellová, award-winning author of The Lake. Bianca Bellová’s dystopian page-turner The Lake is the 2017 winner of the EU Prize for Literature and was named Magnesia Litera Book—the top Czech literary award—in the same year. Newly available in English translation by Alex Zucker, The Lake is the coming-of-age tale of an orphan, named Nami, growing up in a fishing village somewhere in the former Soviet empire. When Nami crosses the lake to the city in search of his mother, he encounters a society on the verge of collapse. Bellová makes dexterous use of symbolism throughout this tightly-knit narrative, leaving a lasting impact on the reader’s mind. Bianca Bellová is a Czech author, who was born in Prague in 1970. She is a translator, interpreter, and writer with Bulgarian roots.

Following the reading will be a discussion and audience Q&A, moderated by Amb. Jaroslav Olša, Jr., Consul General of the Czech Republic in Los Angeles. Books will be available for purchase courtesy of UCLA Bookstore. Light refreshments will be served.

Special thanks to the Czech Republic’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union for their program support.

Event page found here. 

Sponsor(s): UCLA Charles E. Young Research Library