Sponsored by: Johns Hopkins University, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Master of Arts in Writing, Master of Arts in Science Writing, KBF: Kraków Miasto Literatury UNESCO, Potocki Palace, Jagiellonian University: Institute of English Studies, Department of the History of American Literature and Culture Program: 

Tuesday, June 24, 15.00-17.00
Title: “The Tigers of Wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction”
Dark ecology in the literary imagination of Olga TokarczukSpeaker: dr. hab Monika Świerkosz, associate professor of literary studies, Jagiellonian University; editor of the journal The Polylogue Description: The meeting will propose an ecocritical reading of Olga Tokarczuk's novel Drive Your Plough Over the Bones of the Dead to include questions about the gender, or more broadly ethical, consequences of using female anger and sadness as tools to criticise a cultural order in which the objectification of animals is the norm. Dr. hab. Świerkosz will also draw attention to the role of poet William Blake as an inspiration for the tradition of radical romanticism and contemporary dark ecology (T. Morton). Why did Tokarczuk call her novel a “moral thriller” and should we feel uncomfortable about its unconventional ending? What does this dark tale of revenge have to do with Tokarczuk’s much-discussed concept of the “tender narrator”?

Saturday, June 28 14.00-16.00
Title: Independent media amid political polarisation and illiberalism
Speaker: Daniel Tilles, editor-in-chief,
Notes from Poland – the leading English-language media outlet covering Polish affairs Description: Over the last decade, Poland has been at the frontlines of several global trends that raise questions and challenges for the work of independent media. Deep polarisation has impacted not just politics itself but also the media landscape, whether private or public. Meanwhile, successive governments have taken actions that threaten to undermine the rule of law, media freedom and human rights.