«Swiss Lib. - Switzerland's literature on tour», a travelling exhibition organised by Pro Helvetia Warsaw, is scheduled to present contemporary Swiss literature at the book fairs and literary festivals of Vilnius, Lviv, Prague and Krakow.

In a walk-through, multimedia «library city», visitors can gain first-hand experience of Switzerland’s diverse, multilingual literary scene. In addition to existing translations into the languages of the host countries or into English, Swiss Lib. also presents outstanding books by Swiss authors which are still waiting to be translated.

In video interviews, the writers themselves talk about their works. And on an audio chair, visitors can acquaint themselves with slam poetry as well as other lyrical works and songs in all of Switzerland’s national languages.

At each stage of the tour, in addition, a Swiss representative and a local team of curators organise a literary programme that brings together Swiss and local authors, critics and publishers for readings and discussions.

The tour begins in Vilnius from 17 till 20 February with highlights including the following:

• Debate on the current situation and future of literary criticism with Manfred Papst, arts critic and head of culture at the weekly paper «NZZ am Sonntag», Bettina Spoerri, a free-lance literary critic, Matthias Burki, a publisher and writer («Der gesunde Menschenversand») and – on the Lithuanian side – the literary critics Donata Mitaitė and Laurynas Katkus;
• «Spoken Word» evening with word performer Rolf Hermann;
• Reading by Catalin Dorian Florescu, a Swiss author with Rumanian roots, and Lithuanian writer Sigitas Parulskis; both reading from books of theirs translated into Lithuanian and German, respectively. The subsequent discussion will focus on the challenges of literary translation.

From the Lithuanian capital, the tour is due to move on to Prague (12-15 May), Lviv (15-18 September) and Krakow (3-6 November).

Swiss Lib. is part of Pro Helvetia’s «Moving Words» programme (2009-2011), in which the Arts Council spotlights the creative work of literary translators and aims to contribute to the dissemination of Swiss literature throughout the world.