Ĵak Lepŭil’ kaj Literatura Foiro (18 Dec.)
The 3rd Sunday of each month 4–6pm Sydney time (UTC+11)
PLEASE NOTE: Sydney now follows summer-time.
If you would like to attend, or to present something yourself, please write to:
prezidanto@esperanto.org.au
(NOTE: All lectures are in Esperanto.)
Program
(See current year.)
Previous sessions
18 December 2022
Literatura Foiro closes the centenary of Literatura Mondo – Giorgio Silfer
The famous cultural magazine Literatura Foiro has completed its 53rd annual collection, during which five essays by Giorgio Silfer and one by Carlo Minnaja (co-authors of the impressive History of Esperanto literature) analysed the “Literatura Mondo” phenomenon (Budapest, 1922–1949). Prof. Silfer, co-founder of LF in 1970, talked about the two magazines and answered questions from the audience.
20 November 2022
ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons)
Ten years ago, a small Australian group launched a global campaign to ban nuclear weapons. At the United Nations in July 2017, 122 governments voted for that treaty. The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to ICAN in 2017 for its work. Joanne JOHNS presented on behalf of ICAN Australia. Margaret BEAVIS (co-president of ICAN Australia) answered questions. (Marumi SMITH (Australia) organised and Jennifer BISHOP (UK) translated the material into Esperanto.)
(NOTE: Unfortunately, due to technical problems, the first few minutes of the lecture was not recorded.)
Let’s play with flags – Cristina BOLLINI (Italy)
Cristina presented her book, Flagoj: Nia flago kaj ĉiuj flagoj (Flags: Our flag and all flags). She explored some curiosities and answered various questions, such as: How many flags contain human beings? How many flags have blue? What is the significance of that?
16 October 2022
Africa and Esperanto: The state of the movement – Jérémie SABIYUMA (Burundi)
Esperanto entered Africa during the colonisation period, but did not have much success in gaining strength. After independence, no echoes of the movement were heard, and the real movement began in the 1980s. Since then, many clubs were founded in Africa, but not with great success, because several of the clubs did not last long. Why didn’t they survive? What should we do to avoid that? In this presentation, we hear about strategies to successfully help the movement in Africa.
What is happening to our movement? – Ian FANTOM (England)
Ian Fantom explains why he no longer participates in the official Esperanto movement en Britain.
Please note: The opinions expressed in this video are those of the speaker, not of AEA.
18 September 2022
Armenia: a strong faith, a wounded people – Mireille GROSJEAN (Switzerland)
Get to know the geography of this region and discover the cultural treasures of the country, with no shortage of historical aspects.
La Esperanto-Ligo Filatelista – Elda DORFLER (Italy)
Elda presents the history, development and activities of the Esperanto Philatelic League.
21 August 2022
Native speakers of Esperanto – Trevor STEELE (Australia)
Trevor will explore the challenges and problems facing native speakers of Esperanto, as well as the question of how to encourage your children to learn Esperanto.
Travelling in Africa without moving – François HOUNSOUNOU (Benin)
Africa is very rich in culture. Everything is still fresh and natural. The tradition protects the reality of Africa. Through various videos, you will get to know the true and beautiful face of Africa: things to do, brotherhood, friendship and living together.
17 July 2022
Flags around the world – Sandor HORVATS (Australia)
Sandor led a journey through the world of (mostly) national flags.
The Baháʼí faith and Esperanto: a ticklish relationship – Paul Desailly (Australia)
Paul explained the history and current situation of the relationship betweenthe Baháʼí faith and Esperanto.
19 June 2022
Addiction, tobacco and other drugs – Margaret ZALESKI-ZAMENHOF (France)
Margaret Zaleksi-Zamenhof is a physician, and as part of her work in three psychiatric clinics, she specialised in addictions. In this presentation she will explain the mechanisms of these diseases, the various remedies, and will initiate discussion.
Titus Brandsma, a Dutch anti-Nazi martyr – Karl REINISCH (Austria)
Karl Reinisch will present the life of the first Esperantist who fought against the Nazi regime, and who was proclaimed a saint in Rome on 15 May 2022.
15 May 2022
Important moments in the history of Africa – François HOUNSOUNU (Benin)
Africa is a big continent, very rich in various events. Such events mark the difference between Africa and the other continents from a historical point of view. This continent is ruled by kings and emperors.
On Blue Planets – Laure Patas d’ILLIERS (France)
Laure Patas d’Illiers, a French writer, has published a science fiction novel, titled Sur bluaj planedoj. She introduced herself, introduced the book, and answered questions. Related issues were also discussed, including science fiction in general and science fiction in Esperanto, publishing on demand, etc.
Buy the book • Reviews of the book • Biography of Laure Patas d’Illiers and free readable texts
17 April 2022
Broken Labyrinths – Kit KELEN (Australia)
Kit Kelen introduced himself and a little about his work in words and pictures. He thought aloud about poetry and Esperanto, and spoke about his next exhibition and book, Broken Labyrinths. “A broken labyrinth is what an asylum seeker has to negotiate to try to find a new home in an unknown place. To the refugee, the world is like a broken labyrinth, full of dead ends and blockages that could not have been foreseen. For so many people, the escape from danger, the escape to safety, becomes a cruel half-life in grey, in a strange land of broken promises. Although these images and poems are abstract in their own way, I hope they can motivate the public to think and feel something about the situation of asylum seekers, in Australia and around the world. I believe that Esperanto is the right language to express this to the world.” – KK
Published widely since the 1970s, Christopher (Kit) Kelen has twelve full-length collections in English, as well as translated books of poetry in Chinese, Portuguese, French, Italian, Spanish, Indonesian, Swedish, Norwegian and Filipino. His latest volume of poetry in English is Book of Mother, published by Puncher & Wattmann in 2022.
The war in Ukraine. What should Esperantists do?
Six Esperantists shared their feelings and opinions about the war in Ukraine and explored the role/duty of Esperantists. Discussion then followed.
20 March 2022
From animal existence to divinity: 70 000 years of human culture – Gabor MARKUS (Hungary)
A world-famous historian states in his book, which has appeared in more than one million copies in 58 languages: “Seventy thousand years ago homo sapiens was an insignificant animal… in Africa. Like a monkey, a jellyfish, or an insect. But over the next millennia, humans have become masters of the entire globe and terrorists of the ecosystem. Today they are beginning to become gods who strive to attain eternal youth and possess the power of creation and destruction…” The big question is: why could only homo sapiens have evolved so successfully? That is what the lecture is about.
A mathematical history of people and equations – Michael NEDZELSKY (UK)
Michael presented the story of the discovery of formulas to solve third-degree and fourth-degree equations, including some very interesting people who participated (Niccolò Fontana Tartaglia, Gerolamo Cardano, etc).
20 February 2022
A versatile Beninese writer: Jean Pliya – François HOUNSOUNOU (Benin)
Jean Pliya was a famous Beninese writer, and a professor of history and geography. He received the “Grand Prix littéraire d’Afrique noire” in 1967. He was an activist in the Catholic world and was interested in plant-based healing. He died in Côte d’Ivoire in 2015.
The Ido crisis: An important episode in the history of Esperanto – Trevor STEELE (Australia)