First music, then questions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
This year\u2019s edition will open with film music performed by a chamber ensemble of the Cavatina Philharmonic Orchestra<\/a>. Before the audience hears about space, goodness, war, books, and memory, it will first enter the event through emotion, concentration, and shared listening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Later, guests representing very different worlds will appear on stage. Rados\u0142aw Ambro\u017cy<\/strong>, a popularizer of astronomy, will speak about space and the kind of scale that can change the way we think about human affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Joanna Sadzik<\/strong>, associated with the Wiosna Association, will bring in the subject of goodness understood not as a beautiful word, but as a practice of action. She will speak about why people want to be good and how that mechanism can be unlocked in them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Przemys\u0142aw W\u00f3jtowicz<\/strong>, a former soldier and sniper instructor, and the author of Sniper Goes in First<\/em> and Before You Pull the Trigger<\/em>, will speak about the experience of war \u2014 an experience that does not end when one returns home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But this conference is not only about who appears on stage. What happens beyond the stage, in the foyer, will be just as important. Between 3:30 p.m. and 6:15 p.m., the foyer of Cavatina Hall will become the Authors\u2019 Zone<\/strong>. This is one of the most important elements of the October gathering. If the stage gives the event its rhythm, the foyer gives it breath. There, one can come closer, ask a question, disagree, give thanks, ask for an autograph, or stop an author for a brief conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This will not be a conventional book fair or a mere add-on to the conference. It will be a second stage: less formal, more direct, but no less important. Here, ideas will step down from the lectern and test themselves in direct conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Authors\u2019 Zone will feature, among others, Jacek Piekara, Dariusz Jaro\u0144, Szymon P\u0119kala, and Przemys\u0142aw W\u00f3jtowicz<\/strong>. In this space, Andrzej Kucyba\u0142a<\/strong> will hold a special place. A conductor, educator, and co-author of Jan Smeterlin: The Forgotten Piano Virtuoso<\/em>, Kucyba\u0142a is a well-known conductor and cultural manager. He will not come to speak about the latest trend, technology, or the disputes currently heating up social media. He will come to the readers he meets in the Authors\u2019 Zone at Holistic Talk 2026<\/a> with the story of Jan Smeterlin: a pianist born in Bielsko, an artist from Europe\u2019s borderlands, and an interpreter of Chopin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Smeterlin is an almost literary figure. He performed with the greatest orchestras and then, like many outstanding artists of his generation, was almost completely erased from common memory. War, emigration, changing fashions, and the passage of generations all played their part. What remained were recordings, a few anecdotes, and silence. In a city that in 2026 holds the title of Polish Capital of Culture, Kucyba\u0142a\u2019s appearance with the story of Smeterlin takes on an additional, almost symbolic dimension.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSpace, goodness, and war<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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The Authors\u2019 Zone at Holistic Talk 2026: the foyer as a second stage<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
This is where conversation truly begins<\/h3>\n\n\n\n