The lecture will be in Czech and translated into English.       

In 2012, Jaromír accepted an offer from the British publishing company SelfMadeHero, to make Franz Kafka’s novel The Castle into a comic. Publishersweekly.com described the work as a “powerful interpretation of Kafka’s timeless themes.” For this adaptation, he and co-creator David Zane Mairowitz received a nomination from San Diego’s Will Eisner Awards 2014, for Best Adaptation from Another Medium.                

Admission is free. | Light refreshments will be served.    

RSVP by October 28        
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lecture-kafka-and-comics-by-jaromir-99-tickets-13485444327           

Location: Embassy of the Czech Republic      
3900 Spring of Freedom Street, NW, Washington, DC 20008

The event is part of the Mutual Inspirations Festival 2014 – Franz Kafka.          

Additional information:      
Listen to Jaromír 99 talk about his comics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEq0VTaRPCQ

More about the Artist:           
Jaromír Švejdík (a.k.a. Jaromír 99), is a Czech singer, songwriter, guitarist and artist. As a graphic artist, he co-created with Jaroslav Rudiš the comic Alois Nebel, which was made into an animated feature and selected as the Czech entry for the Best Foreign Language Film for the 2011 Academy Awards. The film was also named the Best Animated Feature at the 2012 European Film Awards. Additionally, he composed the soundtrack for the film. Previously, Jaromír created the comic Bomber and collaborated with his band Jaromír 99 & The Bomber on the soundtrack. He was awarded the Muriel Prize for his first solo comic strip “Bomber.” He has also worked as set designer and storyboard artist for films such as Samotáři, Jedna ruka netleská, and Grandhotel.     

About The Castle:         
The protagonist, known as K., struggles to break through unreasonable bureaucracy of the Castle and its village. He looks for acceptance that he may never find. Kafka was writing this final novel in 1922, when his tuberculosis was already in an advanced state. For that reason he never finished the novel. However, he suggested it would end with K. dying of exhaustion and the Castle notifying him he had finally been accepted. The Castle is considered to be the best, yet unfinished, novel Kafka has ever written.

Mutual Inspirations Festival:       
The Mutual Inspirations Festival (MIF) is an annual initiative spearheaded by the Embassy of the Czech Republic, focusing on the mutual inspirations between Czech and American cultures and featuring each year an extraordinary Czech personality who has greatly influenced and inspired others through his or her work (MIF 2010-Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, MIF 2011-Antonín Dvořák, MIF 2012-Miloš Forman, MIF 2013-Václav Havel). This year, the festival celebrates the work of Franz Kafka from September 3 - October 31, 2014, throughout prestigious venues in the nation’s capital. For more information about the festival, please visit www.mutualinspirations.org.