Distinctive prose about everyday sufferings and pleasures and the passing of loved ones.

Literary fiction, Short stories

In this collection of prose pieces, the autobiographical narrator records seemingly everyday moments from her life and the lives of her loved ones as well as people she just sees on the street. All the subtle observations and depictions of random encounters and incidents prove that Dora Kaprálová is one of the more linguistically skilful Czech writers. Her prose is sometimes imaginative, sometimes ironic, sometimes even dreamy, but always stylistically precise and masterful. As in her previous books, the writer deals with themes such as exile, one’s relationship to home, to other people, but also the finite nature of life and the passing of loved ones. As the title of the collection might suggest, Kaprálová does not write true short stories but she rather moves freely in the literary space, sometimes switching to a reportage style and occasionally even to poetry within her prose. However, her narratives are always engaging and captivating.

Dora Kaprálová (1975) is a Czech writer and journalist. She grew up in Brno, where she gained an M.A. in dramaturgy and scriptwriting from the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts. Currently based in Berlin, she has published a number of texts on migration, integration, living in exile, communist heritage, Czech and Central European literature, and contemporary poetry. She is the author of Zimní kniha o lásce (A Winter Book of Love, 2014), Berlínský zápisník (The Berlin Notebook, 2016) and Ostrovy (Islands, 2019) as well as children’s books, plays and screenplays. She has received several journalism awards and a number of her books have appeared in German translation.