Prague as a Cultural Center for Slavic Women Writers

Abstract

This paper focuses on several Slavic women writers whose literary careers took a new turn in one way or another because of their encounters with the city of Prague: the Polish writer Honorata Zapová née Wiśniowska (1825–1856), who moved to Prague in 1845 and showed great concern about building bridges between Polish and Czech literatures; the Polish writers Eliza Orzeszkowa (1841–1910) and Maria Konopnicka (1842–1910), who came to Prague several times during their lifetimes, developed a strong interest in Czech culture and established close contacts with several outstanding Czech women (as testified by their correspondence); and the Slovenian writers Zofka Kveder (1879–1926), who lived in Prague from 1900–1906 and began very quickly to write articles and novels in Czech that were favorably received, especially by Czech feminist women writers and critics.