Authors

Ivona Březinová is one of our most productive and at the same time most widely read authors of children’s fiction today. Her books receive many awards and the author was dubbed a “Knight of the Order of the Beautiful Word” by child readers in 2004. Several of Ivona Březinová’s works have also been published in translation abroad. Her first work, Zrcátko pro Markétu (A Mirror for Markéta), published in 2004, was a story for teenage readers. Although the main character is a boy, the structure and content of the book lend themselves more to a novel for girls. The protagonist Medard Koukol goes through all the joys and sorrows of growing up – he dislikes his name and thinks about how to get rid of it, he hides from the world in his improvised chemistry laboratory in a shed where he dedicates himself to his favourite experiments, he is annoyed by his sister and parents but when his mother suddenly becomes ill he experiences fear and pain, as well as his first love and first erotic adventures, though only in fantasy and a gentle precursor. Ivona Březinová’s debut was widely acclaimed and with it the writer acquired her first readers. In the same year she brought out another book aimed at a similar age group - Věra, Nika a sedm babiček (Věra, Nika and the Seven Grandmothers), in which two friends bring together their reclusive families. These first books set out the direction which Březinová most often pursues in her writing: stories with a child as the main character, set in the present, with a more or less significant social context and often with a hidden educational purpose. Amongst the large number of books published – more than forty original titles in ten years – the two largest groups are novels for teenagers and books for younger or starter readers. Besides these, Březinová is also the author of several educational books – eg. Velká dětská encyklopedie (The Large Children’s Encylopedia, 2002), and the didactic book for pre-school pupils Míša a Šíma (Míša and Šíma, 2004). She has also written for adults – the novels for women Madona v kabátě (Madonna in a Coat,1997) and Madona bez kabátu (Madonna without a Coat,1998). On the border between literature for younger people and for adults are the autobiographical books Kateřina nejen ze Zámku (Kateřina From Zámek And Elsewhere, 1998) and Miss sympatie Petra Faltýnová (1999) (Miss Sympathy Petra Faltýnová, 1999) and the sci-fi Čtení trávy (Reading Grass) from the meditative cycle Zeď (The Wall, 1998). However, when looking back over and comparing Ivona Březinová’s works it is obvious that her detours from literature for children and younger people are either experiments or complete dead ends (with the exception of the ever-popular sci-fi Čtení trávy). Among the books for teenage readers, undoubtedly the most engaging was the series of girls’ novels Holky na vodítku (Girls on a Leash) - Jmenuji se Ester (My Name is Esther, 2002), Jmenuji se Alice (My Name is Alice, 2002) and Jmenuji se Martina (My Name is Martina, 2003). The trilogy received a raft of awards including the Zlatá stuha prize as well as the librarians’ and teachers’ prize in the Suk opinion poll. The novels form the testimony of three girls suffering from various addictions or psychological ailments (gambling, drugs, anorexia/bulimia) who are in the same psychiatric clinic. The plot is divided into two separate graphic and narrative sections: the main theme is the subjective narration of the main characters, which looks back to the roots of their problems through a form of diary or letters; this theme is augmented by an objective description of life in the clinic. The most noticeable success from the series is the story about Ester the gambler. The final story about the bulimic Martina seems to be slightly over the top and less realistic. In all three books the educational aim is more than obvious, though it is fair to say that the author treats these non-traditional subjects in a pleasing and readable manner. In 2005 she brought out the book Básník v báglu (Poet in a Bag), which begins another loose series of novels for girls. Březinová attempts to bring teenagers closer to some of the writers of the 19th century and creates contemporary stories which are inspired by the “boring” classics. Básník v báglu refers to Karel Hynek Mácha – during the holidays a trio of high-school students set off to Mácha’s Lake where they unwittingly follow in the poet’s footsteps. In the next novel, Blonďatá Kerolajn (Blonde Caroline, 2006), during the spring holiday the same party heads off to the Ještěd foothills - Karolína Světlá country. We can mention at least a few of the books for younger readers: Panenka z ebenového dřeva (The Ebony Doll) first came out in 1997 – the story is about a Czech family with a ten-year-old girl staying in Africa, becoming familiar with an unknown environment and encountering different cultures. In one of the “first readers”, O kočce Kačce (The Cat Kate, 1998, awarded the Zlatá stuha prize in 1999), the main character/narrator relates some short episodes in the life of a cat and the people around it. The successful book Začarovaná třída (The Enchanted Classroom) came out in 2002 and in the same year was awarded the Zlatá stuha prize and was nominated for the Magnesia Litera prize, in 2004 it was placed on the honour list of the IBBY. The plot centres on the arrival of new classmates – Romany brothers – among a group of children in the third year, and on the coexistence of the children and adults who at first sight appear to have nothing in common. The whole story is varied and lightened by the author as the brothers Lájoš, Maroš and Pišta come from a wandering family of magicians and they themselves are able to use spells and magic, which becomes the basis for many unusual and humorous situations. The social and educational subtext is already clear in the choice of subject, but fortunately this does not stand out from the text; on the contrary, it is unobtrusively composed in a natural and funny manner. The educational aims are much more apparent in the book Neotesánek – Základy společenského chování pro ty úplně nejmenší (Little Lout –  Principles for the Social Upbringing of the Very Youngest, 2005), which despite its fairy-tale style narration is more of a list of what you should and should not do. Among the prize-winning books for younger readers is also the collection of confused fairy tales Teta to plete (Aunt  Mixes It Up), which was published in 2004 and in the same year was nominated for the Zlatá stuha and won the Teachers’ Prize in the Suk opinion poll. A work which seemed to escape the interest of readers and critics was the bilingual pop-up book Mít tak psa – To Have a Dog (2005), which is set in a children’s home. The text originated in 2002 for the International Step by Step Association and took second place in the literary competition Číst je dobré (It’s Good To Read) (Centrum Čítárna [Reading Room Centre] 2005). One of Ivona Březinová’s latest books, Lentilka pro dědu Edu (A Smartie for Grandpa Eda) is aimed at readers over six years of age and the basic plot is about living with Alzheimer’s disease. The unusual theme looks at a particularly forgetful grandfather through the eyes of five-year-old Honzík, without any kind of  “adult” explanations. Březinová describes the whole situation in the family where several generations live together, and without idealizing the situation she shows why good family relations are important for everyone, though at the same time each of us needs our own privacy.

(rm)

This profile was last updated on September 1st 2006

(As the author’s bibliography contains more than 50 entries, we would direct those interested to the author’s website at www.ivonabrezinova.cz, which contains a detailed bibliography.)

E info@ivonabrezinova.cz

www.ivonabrezinova.cz