To begin our second day of the festival we take on the mighty topic of history writing. From Ottoman Turkey to Ancient Rome, history is at the heart of today’s European stories. Whether it’s through a gripping multi-generational family saga, a graphic novel about exile and deportations or the story of a first century Roman eccentric, history provides an endless resource for Europe’s writers. But why do we so often look back for our best stories? Does writing about history provide lessons for – and help us understand – the present or is it pure escapism for writers and readers?
With Raphaela Edelbauer (Austria), Jurga Vilė and Lina Itagaki(Lithuania), Harald Voetmann (Denmark), Defne Suman (Turkey) and Katerina Tučková (Czech Republic). Chaired by Georgina Godwin.
