Lesung, Gespräch und Musik

Europe's Dogs

Reading from the award-winning novel by Alhierd Bacharevič, music for organ by Olga Podgaiskaya.
© Julia Cimafiejeva

1/12

Monday | 1/12/2026
7:30 pm Start of Concert
Kulturpalast, Konzertsaal
Prices
19 €
FLEX fee + 6 €
Reduced prices:
from € 10 for pupils under 18 
from €10 for young people under 30
from 9,50 € for Dresden-Pass and SB from GdB 80
8 € for last minute
Who receives discounts? Read here.

About the Event

In 2025, Belarusian writer Alhierd Bacharevič received the Leipzig Book Prize for European Understanding for "Europe's Dogs." In his compelling novel, he paints a dark future picture of Europe, where nationalism, isolation, and violence dominate the societal climate. The story revolves around six individuals living in a Europe that has excluded all "foreigners" - their stories intertwine to create a multifaceted panorama of exclusion, identity, and the destructive power of political ideologies. Bacharevič's novel is alarmingly current and provocative - a literary warning against reverting to old patterns. The book has since been banned in Belarus. The German translation of the novel was published in 2024 by Thomas Weiler, who has been awarded multiple times for his translations of works from the Slavic language area, most recently with the Leipzig Book Fair Prize in the Translation category. He will guide the event. Belarusian organist and composer Olga Podgaiskaya is known for her music for films by Belarusian directors, and her works have been performed at international festivals such as the Salzburg Festival and the Beethovenfest Bonn. She has been living and working in Poland since 2021. She will accompany the reading on the organ with her own compositions. Kick-off to the literature series VOICES FROM EASTERN EUROPE - TO GO OR TO STAY? A collaboration between the Municipal Libraries of Dresden, the Saxon State Library - State and University Library Dresden (SLUB), and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation Saxony. The kick-off event is a joint collaboration between the Dresden Philharmonic and the aforementioned organizations.

Artists

Alhierd Bacharevič
Author
Thomas Weiler
Translator and Moderator
Tom Wlaschiha
Speaker
Olga Podgaiskaya
Organ

Biographies

Alhierd Bacharevič

Alhierd Bacharevič (born 1975 in Minsk) is a Belarusian writer. He studied Belarusian literature and linguistics at the Pedagogical University in Minsk. He has published several novels and essay collections, and his books have been translated into German, English, Russian and other languages. His 900-page work 'Europas Hunde' (Europe's Dogs) was published in 2017.

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Thomas Weiler

Thomas Weiler, born in the Black Forest in 1978, studied translation in Leipzig, Berlin and St. Petersburg. He has been working as a freelance translator from Polish, Russian and Belarusian since 2007. Thomas Weiler translates fiction, poetry and children's books.

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Tom Wlaschiha

Theatre and film actor, as well as voice actor, Tom Wlaschiha can be heard here as the narrator of the German translation of Europa's Dogs. He became internationally famous after being cast as Jaqen H'ghar in the HBO hit series Game of Thrones. He most recently appeared at the Kulturpalast as the presenter of “Blockbuster Battle” with the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra.

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Olga Podgaiskaya

Olga Podgaiskaya (b. 1981) is a composer and organist.
She studied composition at the Belarusian State Academy of Music in Minsk and has since written a wide range of works, including operas, music theatre, choral pieces, orchestral and chamber compositions, and music for film, which are performed worldwide.

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