How did multilingualism shape the European social, cultural and political landscape? How does multilingualism affect how a writer perceives, reflects, creates and evolves? How is Europe’s linguistic and cultural diversity reflected in its literature and poetry? Join Maša Kolanović, Stavros Christodoulou, Nathalie Skowronek and Giovanni Dozzini for a dynamic discussion and add your own stories to the House of European History’s narrative.

During the whole day, peek behind the curtain and see how the European Parliament and its different Directorates General and Units work in 24 languages. Watch online and participate in virtual workshops to meet interpreters and translators. See if there could be a career in languages for you and learn about the impact of multilingualism on Europe.

On Saturday 25 September 2021, the European Union Prize for Literature (EUPL) and the House of European History are joining forces to celebrate Multilingualism Day. Four EUPL laureates will become museum guides for the day and take you on their literary journeys through history.

The drop-in activities will be held respectively in Croatian, Greek, French and Italian.

11:00-12:30 Drop-in visit with Maša Kolanović (in Croatian)

13:00-14:30 Drop-in visit with Stavros Christodoulou (in Greek) - FULLY BOOKED

14:30-16:00 Drop-in visit with Nathalie Skowronek (in French) - FULLY BOOKED

16:00-17:30 Drop-in visit with Giovanni Dozzini (in Italian) - FULLY BOOKED

Maša Kolanović (born in Zagreb, Croatia) is an associate professor in the Department of Croatian Studies at the University of Zagreb. She has published a number of articles on literature and popular culture, as well as the novels Sloboština Barbie (Underground Barbie, 2008) and Poštovani kukci i druge jezive priče (Dear Insects and Other Scary Stories, 2019). She has also published two poetry books, Pijavice za usamljene (Leeches for the Lonely, 2001) and Jamerika (2013), and one monograph, Udarnik! Buntovnik? Potrošač… (Striker! Rebel? Consumer…, 2011).

Stavros Christodoulou (born in Nicosia, Cyprus) studied law in Athens, but never practised the legal profession as he instead dedicated himself to journalism at the end of the 1980s. He has worked as the managing director of various magazines in Greece and Cyprus, and currently works as a columnist for the leading Cypriot newspaper Phileleftheros. His first book Hotel National (2016) was shortlisted for the Cyprus State Literature Prize and for a competition run by the literary magazine Hourglass. His second book The Day the River Froze (2018) received the Cyprus State Literature Prize.

Nathalie Skowronek (born in Brussels, Belgium) studied literature and worked in publishing before going into the women’s fashion industry for seven years. She returned to literature in 2004, when she edited the collection La Plume et le Pinceau for the publishing house Complexe. At the age of 37, she published her first novel, Karen et moi (2011), the first volume of a family trilogy that takes the reader on a journey from the Polish shtetls to Auschwitz. Two other novels followed – Max, en apparence (2013) and Un monde sur mesure (2017). In 2015, she published an essay entitled La Shoah de Monsieur Durand (2015), in which she argues that the duty of remembrance ceases after 70 years. Since 2016, she has been teaching at the Contemporary Writing Centre of the École nationale supérieure des arts visuels de la Cambre in Brussels. She also facilitates a writing workshop for the Antonin Artaud Club, a day centre for adults with psychological disabilities.

Giovanni Dozzini was born in Perugia, Italy, where he still lives today. He works as both a journalist and an interpreter. His articles have been published in several internationally acclaimed newspapers including Europa, Huffington Post Italia, Pagina99, Onda Rock and Nazione Indiana. Since 2014, Giovanni has been a member of the organising committee for Encuentro, a festival that aims to promote Spanish literature in Umbria. Music is a passion of his, and he often defines himself as a ‘failed rock star’.