The overall winner will be announced at the Leipzig Book Fair on 28 April. The Czech round of the European Union Prize for Literature has a winner. In the new format of the European Union Prize for Literature, the Czech Republic will be represented by the novelist and journalist Ondřej Štindl. The jury was impressed by his latest novel So Much Ash (Tolik popela, Argo, 2022), which it described as being head and shoulders above mainstream contemporary Czech prose and having the potential to appeal to foreign readers too.

The results were decided by a jury nominated by the Czech Literary Centre (CLC), which was responsible for selecting the Czech representative for this year’s prize. The members of the jury were Kateřina Čopjaková (literary journalist and critic), Klára Fleyberková (editor for Czech Radio and the magazine Host), Kryštof Eder (literary journalist and critic), Sára Vybíralová (CLC) and Jonáš Zbořil (poet and editor of the Seznam Zprávy website’s culture section).

Here’s how the jury justified its choice:

“At the beginning of Ondřej Štindl’s novel, So Much Ash, is a clash of generations and opinions between the ageing translator and writer Kryštof and the young progressive sociologist Kristýna. However, as it soon turns out, their televised exchange, which ends in a fiasco, does not lead to just another disapproving sigh over a divided society. Instead, it is the trigger for a colourful narrative full of sometimes slightly exaggerated, sometimes brilliantly observed and psychologically nuanced episodes, which bring to light the vulnerability and wounds of both the main protagonists and other characters, while in the background the Covid-19 pandemic begins to stir.

One of the main strengths of the novel is the fact the author reflects on the burning issues of today’s society but does not stop at mere descriptions. Instead, he unmasks their superficiality, views them from unusual angles and vividly portrays the seemingly irreconcilable opponents’ deep emotions, which their strong opinions should have covered up like a fig leaf. Furthermore, Ondřej Štindl employs extremely lively, rhythmic and captivating language, which allows him to occasionally slip into the poetic or the almost aphoristic. It is precisely its language and penetration behind the curtain of attractive topics and seemingly stagnant pigeon-holing, which makes So Much Ash a novel that transcends the norms of contemporary Czech literary fiction and can also attract foreign readers.”

One winner and five special mentions

Last year, the rules for the prize underwent a major overhaul. While in the years from 2009 to 2021 each country chose its own winner, since 2022 only one nominated title per country is selected at the national level. In the second round, a seven-member international jury then selects an overall winner from the European line-up of works and also confers five special mentions. The decision will primarily be based on extracts of the nominated prose works translated into English which are 30–40 standard pages in length.

Support for undiscovered authors

The EU Prize for Literature aims to raise the profile of writers who are not yet known outside of their home countries. For that reason, only writers whose books have not been translated into more than four languages are eligible for the award. In addition, the nominated book must be their second to fourth published book. For this year’s edition, the national juries could only nominate books published between July 2021 and February 2023.

Although the prize is open to a total of 41 European countries, for organizational reasons only a third of them take part each year. Apart from the Czech representative, authors from the following countries will be competing for the award: Armenia, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Poland and Sweden.

The Leipzig finale

On Friday 28 April, at the Leipzig Book Fair, the European jury will announce the overall winner of this year’s European Union Prize for Literature, who will receive a financial award of 5,000 euros. However, all the nominated authors will be promoted on the European stage on an ongoing basis with the aim of reaching a wider international audience and connecting with readers beyond the borders of their country and language. Past winners representing the Czech Republic – though based on the competition’s earlier rules – were Tomáš Zmeškal (2011), Jan Němec (2014), Bianca Bellová (2017) and Lucie Faulerová (2021).

David Böhm’s book has won several literary awards.Czech literature for children and youth, a book market segment that has long been popular abroad, has achieved another extraordinary success this year: several Czech and German awards for David Böhm’s book A is for Antarctica: View from the Other Side (A jako Antarktida: Pohled z druhé strany, 2019).

Several institutions and supporters pulled together to publish the book which meant that the author could actually visit Antarctica before creating his work – and he took his sons, Jáchym and Oliver, with him. They were sent on the journey by the German publisher Hans Koch that also sponsored the book’s translation into German, carried out by the experienced translator Lena Dorn.

“Karl Rauch Verlag has already published two of David’s books. We talked about what other projects he would like to make come true. It was clear that he was particularly interested in Antarctica and that he even had a friend who organizes sailing trips to Antarctica and he would like to try it one day. I found his story so exciting that an idea arose to send David and his two sons on a trip to Antarctica for a few weeks. The journey then became the basis for the book,” Hans Koch describes the idea of ​​Antarctica as the main heroine of the new book for children.

Hans-Gerd Koch

In Czech conditions, it is difficult to imagine such an extraordinary step. However, the German publisher was not afraid of failure: “I never had any doubts about the project, maybe I was just worried whether the book sales would pay off the relatively high costs to create it. David’s first sketches convinced me completely, and I was sure that an amazing book would be created.”

These expectations were met, as A is for Antarctica won an award for a book for children and youth in the Czech Republic, too: Magnesia Litera and Zlatá stuha (The Golden Ribbon) in the literary category of non-fiction for children and youth. What is perhaps even more crucial is the extraordinary reception in Germany: the book has won the German Children’s Literature Award in the non-fiction category (Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis – Sachbuch) and another award for Lena Dorn’s translation.

“It is the most well-known prize for literature for children and youth in Germany, awarded annually by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth in Frankfurt during the book fair. Everyone knows it. I do not know how to put it any other way; it is a very important prize, and I am very happy that I could be a part of this project,” said the translator.

Hans Koch agrees with Lena Dorn and adds that “prizes are always a kind of confirmation that I, as the publisher, have made a good decision. I was delighted that David won the Magnesia Litera and the German Children’s Literature Award. Both prizes show that we have made an exceptional book that, with regard to its topic, was published at the right time.”

Translating a book like this from Czech into German is naturally not easy: “The most difficult thing for me was a penguin’s demonstration against waste, or rather its motto – I feel that in German, we do not have a similar tradition of witty, funny and short slogans for political demonstrations. Besides that, it was definitely important to try to make the scientific information accurate.” Lena Dorn has already cooperated with the Rauch publishing house on How to Make a Gallery (Jak se dělá galerie, 2017).

Photo: www.bohmfranta.net

The author himself was not sure whether the book he had composed “still holds together, so I am glad it makes sense to someone else as well”.

Besides the awards from experts, it is also important that the translation is popular with the German audience. “It is a book that looks different from other books for children and youth. It is distinctive, it surprises, and when you look at it, you just can’t put it aside. Many reviewers have noticed this, and bookstore visitors also share this experience. The success of the book is growing slowly, but the awards also contribute to people’s interest in the book. We have already had to make a second reprint and now we have just started another one. I think we will be selling the book for a long time, because it will be topical also in the future,” believes Hans Koch.

Lena Dorn. Photo: Beatrice Barth

The German and Czech versions were published at the same time, and the publishing house has so far sold licenses to China, South Korea and Slovakia. Applicants from the USA, England and Spain are also seriously interested. According to Lena Dorn, the book has a high chance of success because it is for the whole family: “Everyone will find something in it – either penguins, geographical or historical information, or a philosophical and artistic challenge to understand why we look at the world the way we do. It is also good for discussing the climate crisis, as Antarctica is an endangered continent, and several times it has been mentioned in newspapers as the only part of the world without coronavirus.”

David Böhm is already working on another project, a book on urbanism by Osamu Okamura. “At the moment, we are finishing illustrations with Jirka Franta and Pavel Horák. We have been creating models of the cities that Pavel took photos of, so it was a completely different approach than usual. And I have a few ideas for some of my other books, but so far it is at the stage of collecting observations and notes, I’ll see what will finally come out of it.”

Lena Dorn is currently translating Milada Rezková’s book about fear Don’t be afraid! (Neboj, neboj!), which will be published by the Helvetiq publishing house in spring 2021.

Premia Bohemica is a literary award handed out since 1993.The French translator and expert in Czech studies Xavier Galmiche was awarded the Premia Bohemica for 2020. It is a prize that the Moravian Library on behalf of the Ministry of Culture annually awards to a scholar or translator who has significantly contributed to the promotion of Czech literature in their own country. The winner is selected by a committee formed by prominent Czech scholars and former laureates of Premia Bohemica.

Xavier Galmiche (born 1963) lectures Czech literature and Central European cultures at the department of Slavic studies at the University of Sorbonne. He lived in Prague between in the mid 1980s (1984-1986), and soon after he embarked on his publishing career. He earned the acclaim of Czech academic circles with his monograph on Vladimir Holan: Vladimír Holan, le bibliothécaire de Dieu: Prague 1905-1980 (2009), which was translated into Czech in 2012.

For years now, has Galmiche shown academic interest in a number of prominent Czech writers and has translated the works of Karel Čapek, Bohumil Hrabal, Vladimír Holan, Jan Vladislav, Jakub Deml, Karel Jaromír Erben, or even Johann Amos Comenius. Among other less notorious authors, he translated texts by Czech aesthetics such as Jan Mukařovský, Josef Durdík, and Otakar Zich as well as artists such as Josef Váchal and Bohuslav Reynek.

The Czech literary critic and historian Professor Petr Bílek commented on Galmiche’s interpretations: “His take on the Czech authors is original, unconventional and at the same time crucial and thought-provoking. Since the late 1980s, when his first works were published, Xavier Galmiche has been the bridge between his own French culture and his sensitive translation of the Czech culture he had embraced. His experience and creativity enable him to transcend the limits of Czech culture itself; his interpretations, enrich the both the Czech literary context as well as the foreign one.”

Normally the award would be announced at the Colloquium of Czech Studies, an event for scholars interested in Czech studies from all over the world, annually held by the Moravian Library since 2016. This year, however, the colloquium did not take place, having been cancelled because of the pandemic.

An alternative arose to present Xavier Galmiche with the prize in early November during the visit of the director of the Moravian Library Tomáš Kubíček in Paris; a gala dinner was supposed to be held, with the assistance of the Czech centre in Paris, attended by the Czech ambassador Michel Fleischmann. However, these plans, too, were thwarted by the pandemic and thus the prize will probably not be handed over before February 2021. “We are all sorry, of course, that the awards ceremony could not be held, but the importance of Professor Galmiche’s work will outlast even Covid. Thus we have agreed to present the award at a later time. Regarding that the prize is for the year 2020, however, we have decided to officially announce the award winner now,” explains Tomáš Kubíček, director of the Moravian Library.

Premia Bohemica is a literary award handed out since 1993. Until 2001 it was the Czech Literary Foundation who awarded the prize, while in 2002–2011 it was the Czech Writers’ Union. In 2017 the award was reintroduced and ever since the Moravian Library oversees the award nomination. One of our chief reasons for granting the award is to express gratitude for the efforts to spread Czech literature and culture abroad.

Former laureates of Premia Bohemica include fugures such as Susanna Roth (1993), Oleg Malevič (1998), Christa Rothmeier (1999), Reiner Kunze (2004), István Vörös (2005), Edgar de Bruin (2008), Andrzej Czcibor-Piotrowski (2011), Urs Heftrich (2017), and most recently the Italian scholar Professor Annalisa Cosentino (2019).

The panel praised the continuity, readability and outreach of his philosophical work.The Jaroslav Seifert Prize, a prestigious literary award presented since 1986, has a new laureate. The winner is Miroslav Petříček, author of Filosofie en noir (Philosophy en noir, 2018).

The panel praised the fact that Professor Miroslav Petříček (1951) is constantly working to ensure that philosophy moves away from purely scientific frameworks and opens up to other disciplines, particularly literature and art. Petříček’s work is not only topical, but also goes beyond topicality with its emphatic appeal for society to stay firmly anchored to its values. It is also exceptionally readable.

The Jaroslav Seifert Prize, established in 1986 in Stockholm by the nuclear physicist František Janouch, is awarded for outstanding literary work published or otherwise made public in the Czech Republic or abroad in the last three years, and in exceptional cases for lifelong work. The laureate is announced by the Charta 77 Foundation every two years on 22nd September, on the evening before Seifert’s birthday.

The Jaroslav Seifert Prize is financed by the Charta 77 Foundation. The laureate receives it in December 2019 at the Mayor’s residence in Prague. The prize money is 100 000 crowns.

The decision on whom to award the Jaroslav Seifert Prize was taken by an independent panel of judges comprising: Tomáš Kubíček (panel chairman), Pavel Dominik, Libuše Heczková, Hana Klínková, Marie Langerová, Milena M. Marešová, Hana Soukupová and Jiří Zizler.

Past laureates of the Jaroslav Seifert Prize:

Jiří Brabec and Jiří Opelík (2017)
Eugen Brikcius (2015)
Vladimír Binar (2012)
Karel Šiktanc (2011)
Jáchym Topol (2010)
Ludvík Kundera (2009)
Václav Havel (2008)
František Listopad (2007)
Ivan Martin Jirous (2006)
Michal Ajvaz and Jiří Suchý (2005)
Viktor Fischl and Josef Škvorecký (2004)
Miloslav Topinka (2003)
Jiří Gruša (2002)
Zdeněk Rotrekl (2001)
Pavel Šrut (2000)
Jiří Kratochvil (1999)
Věra Linhartová (1998)
Karel Milota (1997)
Jiřina Hauková and Zbyněk Hejda (1996)
Antonín Brousek and Petr Kabeš (1995)
Milan Kundera (1994)
Bohumil Hrabal (1993)
Josef Hiršal and Ivan Wernisch (1992)
Jiří Kolář (1991)
Emil Juliš (1990)
Karel Šiktanc (1989)
Ivan Diviš (1988)
Ludvík Vaculík (1987)
Dominik Tatarka (1986)

Most awards were “scooped up” by Vojtěch Mašek.This year the Muriel Awards for the best comic works were presented at the Prague Bio Oko cinema. The best comic book for children was Inspektor Hopkins zasahuje (Inspector Hopkins Intervenes) by Jan Smolík. The comic book matador Jiří Petráček, who is the author of, among others, Truhla pokladů (Treasure Chest), Osudové bitvy dějin (Fateful Battles of History), Války světa (Wars of the World) and Odysseus, has entered the Hall of Fame. Punťa: Zapomenutý hrdina českého komiksu (1934-1942) (Punťa: The Forgotten Hero of Czech Comic Books (1934-1942)) won the Award for Contribution to Czech Comic Books for the author duo Pavel Kořínek and Lucie Kořínková. The best short comic book of last year is Uprchlíci (Refugees) by Marek Rubec, while the best comic strip is Pas faux pas by Jan Pomykač. The award for the best translation went to Michala Marková (Pečeme s Kafkou – Baking with Kafka – by Tom Gauld), although the best translated comic book is Last Look by Charles Burns. The award for the best student collective comic book went to the Šmelhaus project (Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague).

The artist and comic book scriptwriter Vojtěch Mašek won three Muriel Awards and the Czech Comic Book Academy Award for the best comic book works of last year (2018 and autumn 2017). For Svatá Barbora (Saint Barbara) – a comic book inspired by the so-called Kuřim case, written together with Marek Šindelka – he also took the award for the best drawing (precise artistic expression) and the Czech Comic Book Academy Award. He won two other awards, the best comic book and the best script, for his original book Sestry Dietlovy (The Dietl Sisters).

The comic books Svatá Barbora and Sestry Dietlovy appeared in the Czech Literary Centre booklet New Czech Books: Autumn 2018, which you can see here.

The prestigious catalogue is published every year by the International Youth Library in Munich.

The White Ravens is a catalogue of international book recommendations announced every autumn at the Frankfurt Book Fair by the International Youth Library in Munich. Established in 1949 by Jella Lepman, the International Youth Library is the largest library for children and young adults in the world. The complete catalogue can be found here.

The Czech books added to the catalogue this year are:

Taťána Rubášová & Jindřich Janíček: The Wonderful Robot Expedition (Podivuhodná robotí expedice)
In this epic comic book diary, two bickering robot explorers embark on a tragicomic journey to make sense of a post-apocalyptic earth. (Reading age: 9+)

Petra Soukupová: Who Killed Snowflake? (Kdo zabil Snížka?)
A bestselling adventure book for children with a detective twist. (Reading age: 9+)

Radek Malý & Renáta Fučíková: Franz Kafka – A Person of His Time and Ours (Franz Kafka – Člověk své a naší doby)
This lavish book about the most famous native of Prague, Franz Kafka, is intended for everyone who wishes to learn more about his life and work, and his world. (Reading age: 10+)

Olga Černá & Miroslav Šašek: The Lost Diary of the Professor from Essex (Ztracený deník profesora z Essexu)
A beautifully produced diary, discovered more than one hundred years after it was written, describing the peculiar animals on a remote island. (Reading age: 8+)

The poet is the fifth Czech recipient of the prestigious award. Ivan Wernisch is the 2018 winner of the Franz Kafka Prize. The aim of the prize is to is to “reward artistically exceptional literary production of a contemporary author whose work addresses readers regardless of their origin, nationality or culture, like the work of Franz Kafka.” Four Czechs have received the award in the past (Ivan Klíma, Arnošt Lustig, Václav Havel and Daniela Hodrová). Other notable winners of the prize include Philip Roth, Elfriede Jelinek, Haruki Murakami and Margaret Atwood.

Ivan Wenisch (b. 1942) is a poet, author of prose poems, translator, journalist. As an editor he has compiled a number of anthologies. He is the 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.

Erik Tabery’s non-fiction Opuštěná společnost (Abandoned Society) wins book of the year.The winners of the prestigious Czech literary award were announced on 4 April at the National Theatre New Scene in Prague. The ceremony was broadcast live by Czech Television.

Magnesia Litera — Book of the year

Erik Tabery: Opuštěná společnost (Abandoned Society, Paseka)

An examination of Czech society in its historical context, including the recent rise of populism, by the long-time editor-in-chief of the weekly Respekt.

Magnesia Litera — Prose

Josef Pánek: Láska v době globálních klimatických změn (Love in an Age of Global Climatic Changes, Argo)

This novella tells a tale of the global village known as Earth, the illogical nature of racism and the inscrutable ways of the heart, and mainly of how we all fear changes, while the greatest of these is taking place all around us and above our heads.

Magnesia Litera — For children and young adults

František Tichý: Transport za věčnost (Transport for Eternity, Baobab)

A book for children inspired by the true stories of boys who lived in Prague and Terezín concentration camp during World War II.

Magnesia Litera — Poetry

Milan Děžinský: Obcházení ostrova (Walking Around an Island, Host)

The last, paramount part of a loose trilogy of poetry with loneliness at home as its theme.

The complete list of winners can be found on the Magnesia Litera website.

Premio Salerno Libro d’Europa for Žítkovské bohyně (The Žítková Goddesses).Bestselling Czech author, Kateřina Tučková, will receive the Premio Salerno Libro d’Europa for the Italian edition of her novel Žítkovské bohyně (The Žítková Goddesses, 2012). The prize is awarded annually at the Letteratura Salerno festival to three European writers under forty who have had a book translated into Italian. This year, the festival will take place 16-24 June. The Italian edition of the novel, L’eredità delle dee, was published last year by Keller Editore and translated by Laura Angeloni.

Kateřina Tučková is an art historian, translator and writer who has been very well received by Czech readers over the past decade. The Žítková Goddesses, which has sold over 140,000 copies, is her best known book and has been translated into 14 languages. The novel is a fascinating tale of the female soul, magic and a part of Czech history kept hidden. A group of mysterious woman, known as goddesses, have lived high up in the White Carpathian Mountains. They are far away from everything, which is why it is said that certain women among them have succeeded in preserving knowledge and intuition the rest of us have lost. They have passed this knowledge down from generation to generation for centuries. Dora Idesová is the last of the goddesses. She is reluctant to accept an outdated way of life and to read the futures of those who come to her in drips of wax, as her Aunt Surmena did. But everything changes once she understands that her personal circumstances that she has always considered unhappy – being sent to a boarding school and hospitalization in an asylum – is part of a carefully thought-out plan.

The prestigious Czech literary award has revealed its nominations for 2018.In each category, there are three finalists, with the exception of the prose and blog category, which both have six finalists. Below are the nominees for prose, poetry and book for children and young adults. The nominees in the prose category this year include Anna Bolavá, who won the award in 2016 for her previous novel, and Petra Soukupová, who is also nominated in the children’s category. The complete list of nominees can be found on the Magensia Litera website. The winners will be announced on 4 April at the National Theatre New Scene in Prague. The ceremony will be broadcast live by Czech Television.

Prose:

• Anna Bolavá: Ke dnu (Going Down, Odeon)
• Lucie Faulerová: Lapači prachu (Dust Catchers, Torst)
• Ondřej Horák: Nebožtík (The Deceased, Akropolis)
• Ivana Myšková: Bílá zvířata jsou velmi často hluchá (White Animals Are Very Often Deaf, Host)
• Josef Pánek: Láska v době globálních klimatických změn (Love in an Age of Global Climatic Changes, Argo)
• Petra Soukupová: Nejlepší pro všechny (Best for Everybody, Host)

Poetry:

• Milan Děžinský: Obcházení ostrova (Walking Around an Island, Host)
• Ondřej Hanus: Volné verše (Free Verses, Host)
• Michal Jareš: Začátek eposu (The Beginning of an Epic, Trigon)

Book for children and young adults:

• Petra Soukupová: Kdo zabil Snížka? (Who Killed Snowy?, Host)
• Jana Šrámková: Bratři v poli (Brothers in the Field, Běžíliška)
• František Tichý: Transport za věčnost (Transport for Eternity, Baobab)