In this joint project of the Czech Centers Network and Radio Prague International, the Radio Prague International editorial staff and award-winning author Pavla Horáková introduce the best of Czech literature that English language readers should not miss!
Jan Balabán: Every life deserves to be told
This year marks 11 years since the death of the novelist and translator Jan Balabán, who is considered one of the best writers of the post-1989 period. His most highly acclaimed work, a collection of short stories called Maybe We’re Leaving from 2004, was named Book of the Decade in the Magnesia Litera competition. His last novel Ask Dad, finished shortly before his untimely death in 2010, won Book of the Year in the same competition.
Radka Denemarková: “Life always brings me topics to explore”
Radka Denemarková is one of the most widely translated contemporary Czech authors. She has received Magnesia Litera Awards for prose, non-fiction and best translation and, most recently, Book of the Year, for her latest novel Hours of Lead. Her books have been translated into more than twenty languages, winning numerous foreign prizes, and make her one of the most celebrated Czech contemporary writers.
Petr Hruška and Milan Děžinský: poets of the everyday
Czech poetry has been enjoying something of a renaissance in the new millennium. Following a decline in the 1990s, in the past two decades poetry has been shaped by lively literary activity, revolving around literary cafés, festivals and public poetry readings.
Petra Hůlová - All This Belongs to Me
Petra Hůlová was fresh out of university when she burst onto the Czech literary scene in 2002, with her debut novel Paměť mojí babičce, or All This Belongs to Me, chronicling the lives of three generations of women in a Mongolian family. A surprise bestseller at the time, the poetic but often bleak family saga remains among the most widely read Czech books of recent decades. While set in the Mongolian steppes and capital of Ulaanbaatar, it is also a universal story of family secrets, betrayal, shame and resilience.
