"Coffee with Kafka": 2019

October 20, 2019 – Strindberg's connection with Kafka

Thank You for Coming!

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Sunday, October 20, 2019, 2-4 pm

in Pan's Garden (map)
506 21st Street, San Diego, CA 92102.

"Strindberg meets Kafka"

With Featured Guest

Anne - Charlotte Harvey

Professor Emerita, School of Theater, TV and Film, SDSU

Recipient of King Carl XVI Gustaf's gold medal

for work on behalf of Swedish culture in the US

Named Swedish American of the Year 2009
by the Vasa Order of America

"Everything can happen, everything is possible and probable. Time and place do not exist; on a significant bases of reality, the imagination spins, weaving new patterns; a mixture of memories, experiences, free fancies, incongruities and improvisations."

August Strindberg

Was Strindberg a precursor to Kafka?

Bridge builder between cultures, Prof. Harvey will help us explore the art connection between the father of modern theater, the Swedish playwright, essayist, painter and poet August Strindberg and the metaphorical worldview of Franz Kafka.

She has written a short playlet with three characters, Strindberg, Kafka and an art historian, named Tom. It will be performed for us following her presentation, a talk-through of Strindberg’s life and peculiarities.

A couple of excerpts from Strindberg’s plays, read by Byron LaDue and Kathi Diamant will illustrate the key points of her lecture.

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To reserve a place, please fill in the form below
or e-mail: Elizabeth (at) coffeewithkafka.com

Home baked refreshments, coffee, tea and wine will be offered.

Suggested donations: $10

June 9, 2019 - A Kafka theme in #MeToo times

Thank you for coming!

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One Hundred Years of Sexual Alienation –

from Kafka's The Castle

to "Cat Person",

the Most Read Online Short Story

Sunday, June 9, 4-6pm

in Pan's Garden (map)

506 21st Street, San Diego, CA 92102

We will continue our discussion of The Castle and bridge one of the leading themes of Kafka's novel, romantic relationships, sex and the yearning for love and understanding, to our modern-days mores.

Please join us to discover how the short story "Cat Person" that took the Internet by storm in 2018 is a continuation of a century old problem.

Kristen Roupenian's short story "Cat Person" was published by the New Yorker in December 2017. In the weeks after it was published, it was shared millions of times, went on to get more than 4.5m hits and became the most-read piece of online fiction the New Yorker has published. It is a story about dating, a kind of commentary on how people get to know each other, or don't, through electronic communication.

One hundred years ago the theme of sexual alienation was explored by Franz Kafka in The Castle. It is fascinating to trace the connection!

Our in house artist Byron LaDue will read from both stories to help us enjoy their writers' talent in search to debunk the puzzle: why is love plagued by misunderstandings?

There will be savory treats, wine, coffee, lots of good cheer, camaraderie with the usual hallmarks of our Coffee with Kafka events!

To read the "Cat Person" story click here; an interview with the author; and an article about the story.

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To reserve a place, please e-mail: Elizabeth (at) coffeewithkafka.com

March 17, 2019 - Afternoon at the Movies

"The Castle"

Special INDOOR screening of Franz Kafka's classic

Sunday, April 7, 2019, 4 - 6:45 pm

in Sherman Heights Community Center

2258 Island Avenue, San Diego, CA 92102 (map)

This is a 1997 Germany/Austria production written and directed by the visionary filmmaker Michael Haneke whose movies ("The Lives of Others", "The Piano Teacher" and "The White Ribbon") are well known in the US.

The movie is in German with English subtitles.

A land surveyor is summoned to a remote village by the local government, known as "The Castle". As the absurdity to his circumstances and the depth and intricacy of the Castle's hold on the villagers grow, Haneke masterfully evokes Kafka's vision of a dystopian society hobbled by paperwork and bled dry by conformism and convolution. Using an expert cast and beautifully austere Rembrand-like visuals, Haneke transforms Kafka's unfinished novel into a potent, enigmatic and complete film experience that is truly Kafkaesque.

A short discussion following the film will set the stage for conversations to be continued in our future "Coffee with Kafka" meetings.

Please note:

Doors open at 4pm.

The introduction and screening will start promptly at 4:15pm.
The movie runs about two hours.