Bruno Schulz was born and lived in Drohobych (then part of Austria-Hungary, later Poland, and now Ukraine) for most of his life. He became renowned for his richly imaginative, dreamlike prose blending autobiography, mythology, psychology, and symbolism. Although he published only two collections of short stories, The Street of Crocodiles (also known as The Cinnamon Shops) and Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass, they profoundly influenced European literature. Schulz was also an accomplished graphic artist whose drawings and prints complemented the surreal atmosphere of his writing.
Literary scholar Vira Meniok created the Bruno Schulz Festival with the support of the Polish Studies Research and Information Center at the Drohobych Ivan Franko State Pedagogical University. She envisioned the festival as a way to reconnect modern Drohobych with its multicultural heritage, particularly its Polish and Jewish history. Bruno Schulz is the ideal symbol of this effort because his works, written in Polish and influenced by his Jewish identity, are inseparable from Drohobych, the town where he lived, taught, and created.
The first SchulzFest took place from July 12 to 18, 2004. It immediately established a format that combines academic research and artistic events. The academic component is one of the festival’s defining characteristics. Each edition hosts an international conference that focuses on Schulz’s work, its historical context, comparative literature, translation studies, and broader Central European culture.
Alongside the conference, the festival’s program typically includes a variety of artistic events held throughout Drohobych. Since Schulz was both a writer and gifted visual artist, the festival program reflects his broad creative identity by featuring visual art exhibitions inspired by his drawings and prose, stage adaptations of his works, musical performances, documentaries and feature films, public lectures, philosophical discussions, poetry readings, and translation workshops.
International participation has been central to SchulzFest since its inception. Over the course of more than two decades, the festival has welcomed participants from over twenty countries, including Brazil, Croatia, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, Poland, Serbia, Spain, Taiwan, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Ukraine. This reflects Schulz’s extraordinary global influence; his books have been translated into dozens of languages and continue to inspire writers, artists, and academics worldwide.
SchulzFest has been held every two years since its inception, even during the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The festival is typically held in mid-July around Schulz’s birthday (July 12), though it was postponed to November in 2020 due to pandemic-related restrictions.
Photo: brunoschulzfestival.org
