A late-night phone call from his mother transports Marek back to his youth: to a dysfunctional family, to a conservative industrial town that punishes those who are different. The political and economic upheavals following 1989 take their toll on the whole family: poverty, alcoholism, violence.
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»Aufwachsen in prekären Verhältnissen – und dann auch noch queer« – Lesung & Gespräch mit Marek Torčík & Ruben Höppner
In a melancholic, fragile and hopeful tone, Marek Torčík tells the story of a young man’s quest to find the courage to be true to himself and his desires. *What Time Does Not Take* (2026) has been translated into 27 languages and is the most internationally successful Czech novel in decades.
On the evening of the event, Marek Torčík will read from his best-selling novel *What Time Does Not Take* and speak with publisher Ruben Höppner about background, class, the body and queerness in post-socialist Czechia.
Marek Torčík (born 1993) writes poetry and prose; he is originally from Přerov and lives in Prague. After studying English literature and culture at Charles University in Prague, he published his poetry collection *rhizomy* in 2016. His debut novel *What Time Does Not Take* has been translated into 27 languages. For his writing, he has received, amongst other awards, the Magnesia Litera Prize for Prose and the Jiří Orten Prize.
Ruben Höppner is the publisher of Anthea Verlag, which he took over in 2024 and established as a literary home for voices from Central and Eastern Europe. He studied Slavic and German Studies in Berlin and Prague and has been a research assistant at the Institute of Slavic Studies at the University of Potsdam since 2021. In 2025, Anthea was awarded the German Publishing Prize.
The event will be held in German and Czech.
Dates
November 2026
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