At the beginning of the 20th century, the remote mountain village of St. Georg is a place where miracles are part of everyday life: people talk to saints, walk on water, whistle stones in half. But slowly the inhabitants begin to sense that the time of great technological change has come, which will replace their traditional miracles.
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Odysseus, a native of the village who was previously believed to be dead, returns and helps the village prepare for the impending upheavals. However, excitement is caused by an administrative inspection in the form of Franz Rechnitz from the capital. While the young imperial notary St. Georg wants to lead the village ‘properly’ into the new century, the miracles that still work must be kept secret from him.
Hlaučo plays with motifs of magical realism. With a love of detail and subtle, sometimes dry humour, he tells a multi-voiced story of a world on the threshold of modernity and the great narratives of the past. In 2025, he won two Magnesia Literary Awards: ‘Book of the Year’ and ‘Debut of the Year’.
Lettrétage, the Czech Centre Berlin and Anthea Verlag cordially invite you to a reading and discussion with Czech author Miroslav Hlaučo. Together we will delve into the world of his novel Pfingsten – Erinnerungen an ein Ende der Welt. A place where miracles are still part of everyday life, yet their disappearance is already palpable.
In conversation with the author, we will explore the background to the novel, its religious motifs and characters, and the question of what is lost when the world is reorganised – and what perhaps only becomes visible as a result.
Dates
April 2026
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