Czech Republic & The NZ Awards in Oral History

What do the Czech Republic and the NZ Awards in Oral History have in common? Apart from oral history, not much, but come to a NOHANZ regional meet-up and hear from two guest speakers. Dr Martin Nekola from Charles University, Prague will talk about the Czech community in New Zealand.

His research has focused primarily on the Czechoslovak exile after 1948 and the life stories of Czechs who had to leave Czechoslovakia and settled in the US, but also in Canada, Australia, New Zealand. Lynette Townsend from Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage, will tell us how we can complete our New Zealand Oral History Award applications to improve our chances of success. Afterwards please join us for a user pays dinner at the nearby historic Thistle Inn.

Dr Martin Nekola is a visiting scholar, historian and political scientist from Charles University, Prague, and whose work includes non-democratic regimes, the era of Communism and Czech communities abroad. In 2018, with illustrator Jakub Dušek, he published a comic book on the fate of Czechs who were forced to flee from their homeland after the 1948 communist coup.

Lynette Townsend is Senior Historian, Audio-visual content at Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage.