Czech Culture Days in Greifswald 2026
Czech Culture Days in Greifswald 2026
Reading with Petr Šesták: "Burnt Out"
The Story of a Bicycle Courier—parasitenpresse, Cologne, 2026
Czech Republic—Guest of Honor at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2026
"Burned Out" by Petr Šesták is the story of a bicycle courier who navigates his way through the madness of street traffic every day to deliver food to customers on time. He weaves around obstacles, dodges insults, dishes them out himself, and constantly reflects on the world. In the civil war of the streets, he wages an uncompromising battle for his idea of justice and resorts to increasingly extreme measures.
“Burnt Out” is also a text about injustice—not only on the streets, but also in the workplace. It addresses the unjust distribution of wealth and power in our society. At the same time, *Ausgebrannt* is a pamphlet that denounces the fetishization of the car as a symbol of progress, independence, power, and the privatization of the world. For all cars are, in fact, allegorical.
Petr Šesták earned a degree in education from Charles University in Prague. He lived in a converted van for two years and traveled all over Europe with a photography exhibition.
The evening will be moderated by the novel’s translator, Christina Frankenberg. The German reading will be performed by actor Stefan Hufschmidt.
“Ausgebrannt,” a novel, pamphlet, and allegory, 142 pages, was published in German in 2026 by the Cologne-based literary publisher parasitenpresse.
Admission: 5 euros
