The day began with a name day celebration for Dammy’s adopted name, “Zlata.”
Then we traveled to the Czech Center for Children’s Books to hear from publisher and children’s book writer Emma Pechačkova.
In her lecture, Pechačkova talked about her life as a writer and publisher of children’s books in the Czech language. She talked about the long tradition of children’s books in the Czech Republic and the ways in which the Czech people have nurtured the genre. For example, during the Communism regime, many artists found work as illustrators of children’s books.
She talked about the practical sides of running a publishing business, such as how to buy and sell the rights for a book, the processes of translating books, and issues like target audience and censorship that impact a book’s success. She also talked about her writing process, which is informed by the intention to write a book that is intellectually interesting for both children and adult readers.
After the lecture, we took a lunch break and walked to the historic castle and fortress known as Vyšehrad, which is associated with the origin stories of the Czech people and earliest Czech king, Vratislav I.
Pictured below is one of the old fortress walls seen from Vratislavova street.
At Vyšehrad, we met in front of the statue of Libuše, the youngest daughter of the mythical Czech ruler Krok. In the 8th Century, Libuše is said to have prophesied the founding of Prague across the river from Vyšehrad, where the Prague castle stands today. She is central to the origin story of Prague and ideas of Czech nationhood.
From there, we explored the old fort complex and chose locations to draw and write about in our sketchbooks.
Here is the Romanesque rotunda of St Martin, the largest preserved rotunda in Prague. It was built in the second half of the 11th century.
And here is the Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul, a neo-Gothic church in Vyšehrad fortress. The original Romanesque basilica dates to the 11th Cenury.
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