Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 2, 1994 TAG: 9405030004
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KEVIN DANIELS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Until now. Until Prague.
With the advent of the Velvet Revolution and the fall of communism in the Czech Republic, Prague has come to the attention of countless young Americans who have journeyed there to make their names and fortunes.
But according to Scott Rogers, a former Roanoker who has achieved a degree of fame as the managing editor of a Prague literary journal and part-owner of a coffeehouse, many of those YAPs - young Americans in Prague - have returned to the States.
"About 75 percent of the Americans who came in the first wave have gone home," Rogers said. "It takes a lot of willpower and the ability to put up with a lot of frustration to stay in Prague."
Rogers was in Roanoke recently to visit his mother, Barbara Dickinson, and to attend his brother's wedding.
His decision to pack up and head for Europe occurred while he was pursuing his doctorate in classical studies at the University of Virginia. After spending six months in Germany working at a castle near Wurzburg, Rogers was looking "to go somewhere a little more stimulating, with a little more culture." He considered Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich, but he only had enough money to support himself in those cities for two weeks. In Prague he could survive for two months before he had to find a job.
"When I went I didn't realize that Prague was becoming culturally renowned," he said. "I knew the history of the city, and I knew that it was cheap. I just happened to arrive in a wave of Americans, even though I had missed all the hype."
Rogers went to Prague during the summer of 1992, when the U.S. media were hyping the city's latest product - the hip and exciting English-language newspaper Prognosis. Details magazine got into the act with an article on the founders of the paper that also managed to discuss Prague's bohemian night life.
"That article definitely had something to do with everyone coming in at that time," Rogers said. "Somehow I managed to miss it and show up anyway."
Rogers' talent for showing up at the right time has served him well in Prague. While working as an English teacher for Charter 77, a human-rights organization, Rogers began to fine-tune his understanding of the differences between Czechs and Americans.
"The Czechs truly value conversation," Rogers said. "It's a pastime for them.... In Prague someone will sit next to you and start with small talk, but then they'll move on to something about you that they find interesting - it can be annoying when they just want to practice their English on you, but most of the time the conversation is a mutual pleasure."
Despite the fine conversation, Rogers admitted that he would find himself seeking out people who spoke with American and British accents. He and his girlfriend, Marketa Janku, eventually hooked up with three fellow Americans who were trying to establish a business that would pique the collective curiosity of Prague, and the Globe Bookstore and Cafe was born.
Rogers explained that the group envisioned a gathering place similar to Shakespeare & Co. in Paris, where people could indulge in what Rogers terms a "natural combination - books and coffee."
But while the five Americans knew what they wanted to do, Rogers recalls the difficulty in relating their intentions to Czechs who repeatedly insisted, "A coffeehouse and a bookstore? You can't do that! We don't have those here."
Rogers said that the group received incredulous expressions from everyone they consulted with on the project, including lawyers, architects and construction workers. But somehow they got the necessary permits, admittedly three months after construction began.
"I think a lot of why we were able to get what we wanted was because everyone thought, `These poor Americans, they don't know any better,''' he said jokingly.
After six months and $30,000 in renovations and new and used books, the Globe opened July 28, 1993, to a crowd of 300. Besides selling books and offering a place for writers to write, the Globe honors its commitment to promoting literature by sponsoring readings, featuring local talents.
Rogers has taken the idea of a literary forum a step further as the managing editor of the English-language journal Trafika, which circulates about 3,000 copies per quarterly issue. Its presence in Europe's capitals is so strong that Rogers has been approached for distribution tips by American publications.
With a name taken from the kiosks that sell cigarettes, Trafika has been well-reviewed in several publications and is slowly establishing itself as a springboard for young writers from around the world who are unable to break into the network of the established journals.
"The big magazines - Paris Review, Granta and Tri-Quarterly - have editors that push their favorite writers, which makes it really hard for someone unknown," explained Rogers, who dismisses the process as "rather incestuous."
"Our being out of the loop is what gives us the edge," Rogers said. "We don't know who the hot new writers are. We publish what we want to publish and what we think is good."
Keywords:
PROFILE
by CNB