This year the Czech writer Radka Denemarková and the Israeli writer Haim Weiss took part in reciprocal residency programs: Radka at the prestigious Mishkenot Sha’ananim cultural center in Jerusalem, and Haim Weiss at Kafka House as part of the Prague – City of Literature project. This mutual exchange was organized by the Czech Centers.
How did you like your stay in Jerusalem? How did the environment in which you spent your residency affect you?
RD: I was one of the main guests at the 'Jerusalem International Writers Festival 2025.' The Jerusalem Festival is one of Israel’s most significant cultural events and invites influential writers from all over the world to the cultural center in Mishkenot Sha’ananim. Writer Yossi Avni-Levy, with my excellent publisher Yoav Reiss, the great director of the Czech Centre in Tel Aviv Jan Štern, and the future ambassador of Israel to the Czech Republic, sensitively introduced the Hebrew edition of the novel 'Money from Hitler' to the audience.
I need to be in the places about which I write and think. Meetings with local people of all social groups and viewpoints were important to me. Jerusalem itself is something like the epicenter of the world's religions. Every day is intense and every day is a novel. It is a city where Jews, Christians, and Muslims live side by side. Time here has a different value: a thousand years mean nothing. It was an extraordinary experience.
HW: I enjoyed very much the days I spent at Kafka House in Prague. For me, as a writer, it was a rare opportunity to dedicate three weeks to intensive writing without any interruptions. The conditions provided to me here are very generous. A spacious apartment near the Jewish Quarter of Prague (which, as a Jew, was of great value to me) allowed me to create an optimal work routine: long working hours in the morning, followed by exploring the beautiful streets of Prague, and then working again in the afternoon.
What did you work on during your stay?
RD: I am working on two novels that I have outlined, and mainly on an essayistic book: the current situation in Israel raises many questions for the whole world and forces us to think in context. The text captures everyday life in Israel during escalating tensions. This experience is part of everything I have lived through this spring. I have the nickname "swallow," and it feels as if I am flying over continents and countries, aware that everything is interconnected, no country is an island, and nothing is black-and-white as the media portrays.
HW: During my time in Prague, I worked on two main projects: the first is a memoir about my youth years in Israel. It is a continuation of a book I already published, and I’m glad I was able to write a full chapter of it here. The second project is research on images of old age in modern Hebrew literature. I also managed to write a complete chapter on the works of the great modern Hebrew writer, Shmuel Yosef Agnon, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1966.
How beneficial was the residency for you personally and for your work?
RD: I feel as if I have been in Jerusalem for decades. I need distance because this year is truly exceptional overall. It has been confirmed to me here, too, that reducing democracy to business is not a good path. And that a morally thinking and acting person cannot retreat into the position of a mere observer. Thanks to my friendship with Haim Weiss, I also met families of abductees at the demonstrations and witnessed the strength of their humanism.
HW: The excellent conditions, wonderful weather, and the beautiful and fascinating city of Prague all contributed significantly to my work. I am very satisfied with the amount of work I accomplished here (I wish I could have stayed a bit longer…).
