The publicist, writer and journalist Ales Palan was born Nov. 23, 1965. He graduated from a local grammar school continuied his education at the Faculty of Pedagogical Studies in Brno. He decided not to complete his master's degree but rather to wonder around Czechoslovakia for some years. In the late 80's and early 90's he took on employment as a night wathcman and ditch-digger.
Since 1993, he has focused on journalism (published in Jihlavské Listy, Duklák, Lidové noviny, Česká televize, TV Nova, Katolický tydeník, Host, and others). He also signed the document Charta '77.
His first real literary accomplishment was a collection of poems published as a samizdat publication in 1989. Twenty of his books were published between 2001 and 2010. The first was a literary interview 'Člověk musí hořeti' with Bohumil Vít Tajovský, published by Torst. The literary interview represented approximately half of his published work from this period. He received a prize of the Czech Literary Fund and prizes from the fairs in Havlíčkův Brod and Olomouc. Aleš Palán was also successful as an interviewer for Lidové Noviny and was nominated for the Magnesia Litera.
In the last decade, he has focused on literary interviews and also on stories about inspiring personalities, belles-lettres and a variety of areas from a publicist point of view and editorial work.
Photo: Michal Hladík
This profile was last updated on 1. 8. 2011