Maňák, Borzič, Massalema: Possibilities of Manhood - Strength and Fragility

Poets Adam Borzič and Sufian Massalema, together with writer Vratislav Maňák, present three author readings exploring the challenges of contemporary masculinity. The programme takes place within the exhibition space ANDROS, which examines representations of the male body in contemporary Central European art. The event lasts 60 minutes and is conducted in Czech.

Adam Borzič is a poet, essayist, and psychotherapist who has long explored the relationships between literature, spirituality, and humanistically oriented psychology. He has published poetry collections including "Weather in Europe" (2013), "Orphic Lines" (2015), "West-East Mirrors" (2018), "Legends" (2021), and "Peacock Logic" (2025). With co-authors Ondřej Slačálek and Olga Pavlová, he wrote "Prophets of Post-Utopian Radicalism: Alexander Dugin and Hakim Bey" (2018). His latest book "Spirituality of the Sacred Land: A Wild Path of Coexistence" (2026) develops themes of green spirituality and the sacredness of life on Earth. From January 2013 to December 2023, he served as editor-in-chief of the literary journal Tvar.

Sufian Massalema is a Czech poet, slam poet, and performer with Syrian roots, born in Jablonec nad Nisou. His work interweaves the experience of growing up in the Czech borderlands with themes of identity, faith, and the search for home - his poems move between the Jizera Mountains, Prague, and the Middle East. His texts have won recognition in the Vladimir Volek Literary Prize and the Václav Hrab Literary Competition in Hořovice. His debut collection "Possibilities of the Overlooked" (2024) was nominated for the Jiří Orten Prize.

Vratislav Maňák is a writer, journalist, and literary historian at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University. He debuted with the short story collection "Clothes Made of Cellophane" (2011), for which he received the Jiří Orten Prize; his novel "Rubik's Cube" (2016) was nominated for the European Union Prize for Literature. In subsequent books - "The Death of Old Maša" (2022) and "Goethe in Mariánské Lázně" (2024) - he explores intimacy, memory, and Central European space. His latest book "With Wittgenstein in a Gay Sauna" (2026) connects