Poet, author of prose poems, translator, journalist. As an editor he has compiled a number of anthologies. Winner of the Jaroslav Seifert Prize (1992), the State Prize for Literature (2012) and the Magnesia Litera (2013). His work has been published in many languages including English, French and Polish. He himself translates from German, French, Italian, Flemish, Russian and Latin. He was born on 18 June 1942.
Ivan Wernisch
The Story of Raindrops
Příběh dešťové kapky
Title | Publisher | Year | Selected published translations | Awards |
---|---|---|---|---|
Pernambuco | Druhé město | 2018 | PL |
2019 Magnesia Litera – Poetry |
Plop! The Lebott’s Korc Unscrooed, He Upguzzeled Liqueur (Plop! Vyvrtil Žlahvout pšunt i chlpal liquére) | Meander | 2015 |
2016 Golden Ribbon Award – Art section: Books for older children and youth |
|
What Ass? (Jakápak prdel) | Druhé město | 2015 | ||
With a Shotgun Under this Coat (S brokovnicí pod kabátem) | Druhé město | 2014 | ||
The Best Czech Poetry (Nejlepší české básně 2013) | Host | 2013 | ||
I was Alive! (Živ jsem byl!) | Druhé město | 2012 |
2013 Magnesia Litera – Publishing achievement |
|
It´s Easy to Walk the Tightrope (Chodit po provaze je snadné) | Meander | 2011 |
2011 The Most Beautiful Czech Book – Literature for children and youth: 1st place |
|
Nowhere (Nikam) | Druhé město | 2010 | ||
The Story of Raindrops (Příběh dešťové kapky) | Gema Art | 2010 | ||
Chimney Boats (Kominické lodě) | Druhé město | 2009 | ||
Once Upon a Time There was One World (Byl jednou jeden svět) | Torst | 2008 | ||
Quodlibet (Quodlibet (editor)) | Druhé město | 2008 | ||
Whoever Reads this is a Pig (Kdo to čte, je prase (editor)) | Paseka | 2008 | ||
Býkárna (Býkárna) | Druhé město | 2007 | ||
Song About a Nose (Píseň o nosu (editor)) | Petrov | 2005 | ||
Head on the Table (Hlava na stole) | Edice současné české poezie a Petrov | 2005 | DE | |
The Sweet Smell of Pink Roses (Virtuos on its Arse) (Růžovejch květů sladká vůně (Virtuos na prdel)) | Petrov | 2003 | ||
We are going to Mů (Půjdeme do Mů) | Mladá fronta | 2002 | ||
Idiotic Poetry (Blbecká poezie) | Petrov | 2002 | ||
And the Slithy Toves (editor) (Lepě svihlí tlové (editor)) | Petrov | 2002 | ||
I Don´t Stand By Love (Lásku já nestojím) | BB Art | 2001 | ||
It´s so Easy to Jump Around the Trees Without a Suitcase or Nún (Bez kufru se tak pěkně skáče po stromech neboli Nún) | Petrov | 2001 | ||
From this Year´s End of the World (pseudonym Václav Rozehnal) (Z letošního konce světa (pseudonym Václav Rozehnal)) | Triáda | 2000 | ||
The Sun Set on a Day Which Never Was (editor) (Zapadlo slunce za dnem, který nebyl (editor)) | Petrov | 2000 | ||
Journey to Ashkhabad or Pumpke and the Dalai Lamas (Cesta do Ašchabadu neboli Pumpke a dalajlámové) | Petrov | 1997 | ||
Just Because (Jen tak) | Aulos | 1996 | ||
Rumour Has It (Proslýchá se) | Petrov | 1996 | ||
The Gold-Blue End of an Old Man´s Summer (Zlatomodrý konec stařičkého léta) | Český spisovatel | 1994 | ||
The Baker´s Night Hamper (Pekařova noční nůše) | Petrov | 1994 | ||
The Latin Scholar´s Den (Doupě latinářů) | Petrov | 1992 | ||
Pawn Shop (Frc) | Československý spisovatel | 1991 |
1992 Jaroslav Seifert Prize |
|
No Way (Ó kdežpak) | Práce | 1991 | ||
Yesterday (Včerejší den) | Mladá fronta | 1989 | ||
He Lived, He was Not (Žil, nebyl) | Poezie mimo domov | 1988 | ||
Inserted Gardens (Zasuté zahrady) | Rozmluvy | 1984 | ||
Puppets (Loutky) | Československý spisovatel | 1970 | ||
Hollow Bank (Dutý břeh) | Mladá fronta | 1967 | ||
Winter Palace (Zimohrádek) | Československý spisovatel | 1965 | ||
Enjoyment (Těšení) | Mladá fronta | 1963 | ||
Where the Sky Flies To (Kam letí nebe) | Mladá fronta | 1961 |
Plop! The Lebott’s Korc Unscrooed, He Upguzzeled Liqueur
Plop! Vyvrtil Žlahvout pšunt i chlpal liquére
What Ass?
Jakápak prdel
I was Alive!
Živ jsem byl!
The Story of Raindrops
Příběh dešťové kapky
Chimney Boats
Kominické lodě
Once Upon a Time There was One World
Byl jednou jeden svět
Quodlibet
Quodlibet (editor)
Whoever Reads this is a Pig
Kdo to čte, je prase (editor)
Býkárna
Býkárna
Song About a Nose
Píseň o nosu (editor)
Head on the Table
Hlava na stole
The Sweet Smell of Pink Roses (Virtuos on its Arse)
Růžovejch květů sladká vůně (Virtuos na prdel)
We are going to Mů
Půjdeme do Mů
Idiotic Poetry
Blbecká poezie
And the Slithy Toves (editor)
Lepě svihlí tlové (editor)
I Don´t Stand By Love
Lásku já nestojím
It´s so Easy to Jump Around the Trees Without a Suitcase or Nún
Bez kufru se tak pěkně skáče po stromech neboli Nún
From this Year´s End of the World (pseudonym Václav Rozehnal)
Z letošního konce světa (pseudonym Václav Rozehnal)
The Sun Set on a Day Which Never Was (editor)
Zapadlo slunce za dnem, který nebyl (editor)
Journey to Ashkhabad or Pumpke and the Dalai Lamas
Cesta do Ašchabadu neboli Pumpke a dalajlámové
Just Because
Jen tak
Rumour Has It
Proslýchá se
The Gold-Blue End of an Old Man´s Summer
Zlatomodrý konec stařičkého léta
The Baker´s Night Hamper
Pekařova noční nůše
The Latin Scholar´s Den
Doupě latinářů
Pawn Shop
Frc
No Way
Ó kdežpak
Yesterday
Včerejší den
He Lived, He was Not
Žil, nebyl
Inserted Gardens
Zasuté zahrady
Puppets
Loutky
Hollow Bank
Dutý břeh
Winter Palace
Zimohrádek
Enjoyment
Těšení
Where the Sky Flies To
Kam letí nebe
Award | Year | Country |
---|---|---|
Magnesia Litera – Poetry | 2019 | Česká republika |
Golden Ribbon Award – Art section: Books for older children and youth | 2016 | Česká republika |
Magnesia Litera – Publishing achievement | 2013 | Česká republika |
State Award for Literature | 2012 | Česká republika |
The Most Beautiful Czech Book – Literature for children and youth: 1st place | 2011 | Česká republika |
Jaroslav Seifert Prize | 1992 | Česká republika |
Praise
What characterizes the poetry of Ivan Wernisch most aptly is perhaps its unreliability. The author dons all sorts of masks – playful, wistful, deceptive, earthy, deferential, derisive. However, this unreliability is also connected with uncertainty and a lack of culmination, thanks to which the collection is open, attracts repeat reading and awakens a desire to let oneself be carried up once again to the heights of Wernisch’s poems and jump, even in the knowledge that someone might maliciously cut the cord of one’s parachute again.
—Markéta Kittlová
iLiteratura
Over the course of his career he has written thousands of texts, and it is not easy to get a handle on his work, although the search for possible ways into it is satisfying and even adventurous. The author does not make it easy for his readers – Wernisch sometimes deliberately fudges the origin or authorship of individual works. His most famous hoaxes include the creation of Václav Rozehnal, under whose name an entire collection of his was published, and who was also listed as a poet in the Dictionary of Banned Writers.
Under the totalitarian regime he had a series of manual jobs, and during Normalization he published only in samizdat form. He began publishing in magazines in the late fifties, and in book form in the early sixties with the collection Kam letí nebe (Where the Sky Flies To, Mladá fronta, 1961), followed by Těšení (Enjoyment, Mladá fronta, 1993), Zimohrádek (Winter Palace, Československý spisovatel, 1965), Dutý břeh (Hollow Bank, Mladá fronta, 1967) and Loutky (Puppets, Čs. spisovatel, 1970). “A poem is something which cannot be understood just like that, using reason alone. And it takes more than reason alone to create it,” said the author in an interview with the journalist and author Karel Hvížďala.
During Normalization Wernisch worked for Czech Radio, and in 1989 he officially published his first “post-revolution” collection – Včerejší den (Yesterday, Mladá fronta, 1989) is an anthology of poems from the years 1957 – 1987. His other major works include Frc – překlady a překrady (Pawn Shop, Čs. spisovatel, 1991), Doupě latinářů (The Latin Scholar’s Den, Petrov, 1992), Pekařova noční nůše (The Baker’s Night Hamper, Petrov, 1994), Cesta do Ašchabadu neboli Pumpke a dalajlámové (Journey to Ashkhabad or Pumpke and the Dalai Lamas, Petrov, 1997), Bez kufru se tak pěkně skáče po stromech neboli Nún (It’s So Easy to Jump Around the Trees Without a Suitcase, Petrov, 2001), Blbecká poezie (Idiotic Poetry, Petrov, 2002) and Růžovejch květů sladká vůně – Virtuos na prdel (The Sweet Smell of Pink Roses – Virtuos on its Arse, Petrov, 2003). His recent works include Kominické lodě (Chimney Boats, Druhé město, 2009) and S brokovnicí pod kabátem (With a Shotgun Under this Coat, Druhé město, 2014). This last-named work is described by Markéta Kittlová on iLiteratura.cz thus: “What characterizes the poetry of Ivan Wernisch most aptly is perhaps its unreliability. The author dons all sorts of masks – playful, wistful, deceptive, earthy, deferential, derisive. However, this unreliability is also connected with uncertainty and a lack of culmination, thanks to which the collection is open, attracts repeat reading and awakens a desire to let oneself be carried up once again to the heights of Wernisch’s poems and jump, even in the knowledge that someone might maliciously cut the cord of one’s parachute again.”
Also worthy of attention are Wernisch’s editorial activities – he has put together several collections of poetry, especially that which is marginal, neglected or even scorned, one example of which is the anthology Živ jsem byl! (I was Alive!, Druhé město, 2012), for which the author and publisher were awarded the Magnesia Litera for achievements in publishing.