In May, Bookworld Prague, one of Europe’s most important book fairs, will celebrate its tenth anniversary by welcoming Ireland, Scotland and Wales as its guests of honour. Each of these three countries, which share Celtic roots, has a rich literary tradition and a distinctive, dynamic contemporary culture. Among the twenty-two authors featured in the guest of honour programme are the Irish novelists Michael Collins, shortlisted for the Booker Prize; Keith Ridgeway, author of the celebrated novel The Long Falling; and Hugo Hamilton, one of the authors of the collective humorous take on Dublin and its literary tradition Yeats Is Dead!, coming out in Czech translation. The Irish non-fiction writer Brian Keenan will present the Czech edition of An Evil Cradling, a dramatic and moving account of his four-year captivity in the hands of Islamic Jihad in Beirut. Poetry will be represented by John F. Deane, Peter Fallon and Moya Cannon from Ireland; the Belfast-based poet and musician Gearóid Mac Lochlainn; and Kevin MacNeil from Scotland. Poet and Forward Prize winner Robert Minhinnick, will be joined from Wales by the country's most celebrated fiction writer, Emyr Humphreys, and rising young novelist Tristan Hughes. The Scottish prose writer Louise Welsh, New Welsh Review editor Francesca Rhydderch and Irish author Eilís Ní Dhuibhne will launch new anthologies of contemporary women’s writing from Ireland, Scotland and Wales in Czech translation. Leading political and cultural analyst Neal Ascherson will engage in a public debate about cultural identity and political exigency with Jan Morris from Wales. They are joined by distinguished scholar Declan Kiberd. The guest of honour programme at Bookworld Prague is coordinated by Literature Across Frontiers in cooperation with the British Council in Prague, the Arts Councils of Ireland and Scotland, Wales Arts International, The Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism for Ireland 2004 Presidency of the European Union, Ireland Literature Exchange and Welsh Literature Abroad, the publishers’ associations of Ireland and Scotland and the Welsh Books Council. For more information visit: www.lit-across-frontiers.org