They saw no other option but to flee North Korea, even though they knew that it could endanger their loved ones and that they might not survive. Literary critic Kryštof Eder will talk to Korean studies specialist and writer Nina Špitálníková about the testimonies of people who escaped one of the world’s most brutal regimes. This year Špitálníková is publishing a sequel to her acclaimed book Testimonies of Life in the DPRK (Svědectví o životě v KLDR, 2020), which became recommended reading for final-year secondary school students.

Programme partner: Paradox Publishing House

Nina Špitálníková is a journalist, author, and specialist in Korean studies. Her work has long focused on the themes of totalitarianism, propaganda, and human rights. While earning a degree in Korean studies from the Faculty of Arts of Charles University, she completed two study visits in Pyongyang. Her book Between Two Kims (Mezi dvěma Kimy, 2016) provides a personal account of daily life under a totalitarian regime. Her second book, Testimonies of Life in the DPRK (Svědectví o životě v KLDR, 2020), captures the stories of North Korean refugees through personal interviews. The book was nominated for a Magnesia Litera award, was translated into several languages, and became recommended reading for secondary school students. The author further developed this theme in her novel North Star (Severka, 2023). She is currently preparing a sequel to Testimonies of Life in the DPRK as well as a children’s book about totalitarianism titled Tota lítá (which translates literally as “Tota flies” but is also a play on the Czech word for totalitarianism).

Kryštof Eder is a literary critic and fiction editor for the publishing house Lidové noviny. He studied Czech literature at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University, where he is now completing his PhD. He deals with, among other things, the specifics of Czech literary debuts. As a literary critic he contributes to the magazines Host and Reflex.