What we have learned from animals about constructing our dwellings is revealed in this book, which can be looked at through two filters using different-coloured plastic sheets.

Jiří Dvořák examines how animals and people create their homes. Burrows, nests, webs, excavated holes, castles, skyscrapers, palaces – all of these utilize what nature has to offer. The author of this interactive book has tried to show that the way in which people’s dwellings are constructed does not significantly differ from the way members of the animal kingdom create theirs, and that animals have also inspired people in the way they create their homes. The book has not only been designed to be read and looked at, but also to be examined more closely: the green plastic film shows the world of people and the red one the world of animals.

A history of the Czech lands and Austria through the engaging story of two women.

Pavla Horáková’s new novel is a fascinating dialogue between two narrators separated by more than a hundred years. Anežka, a teacher, is trying to find some direction in her chaotic life and the chaotic era in which she lives. At the same time, she is going through the handwritten memoirs of Kateřina, an eccentric, self-assured woman whose lack of a formal education is more than made up for by her natural wit and powers of perception. The two women are drawn to Vienna by its strange combination of worldliness and provincialism, its hectic present coexisting with nostalgia for times gone by. Vienna in 1912 – a proud imperial capital at the height of its glory – and modern Vienna in 2020, which we get to know through Anežka, who sets out to explore it in Kateřina’s footsteps.

This extremely readable international drama recounts true historical events without resorting to the usual clichés of comics biographies, and offers an exciting story with masterful narration and unusual drawings.

The story of Nicholas Winton, who saved 669 children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, is well known – at least in its outlines – and is usually presented in terms of his heroism and admiration at what he achieved. Tereza Verecká’s story in no way seeks to undermine Winton’s heroism, but she presents it without pathos, and most importantly, she shines light on the diverse background of those who helped him and who normally remain in the shadow of “the legend of Winton the rescuer”. Based on his memoirs, his story is then compared with the perspective of Doreen Warriner, which reveals that behind every great man is a woman (though not nearly as famous despite being hugely influential). The reader will probably need some time to get used to Podprocký’s drawing style in relation to the theme of the comic book, but it is well worth it as it is sophisticated, dynamic, and makes great use of strong visual metaphors as well as subtle expressions and symbols. Although the graphic novel takes a serious look at a profound and difficult subject, humorous moments and ironic hyperbole also organically blend in.

The comic won the Muriel Award 2024 in the categories Best Comic Book, Best Art and Best Script.

Read an excerpt from the book here.

Family memoir literature—a sensitive remembrance of the Shoah and the heroism of ordinary people, intended for the youngest readers, the generation of great-grandchildren.

The true war-time story of Eva Hermannová is told from the perspective of the stuffed toy rabbit that the heroine got for her fourth birthday. The little girl grew up in a harmonious family, her father was the co-owner of a department store in Opava and her mother was an Austrian opera singer, before darkness began to fall over her childhood and adolescence—she was transported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp as a mischling in 1943. The author recounts her heartbreaking time in Theresienstadt with deep comprehension and sensitivity towards child readers. She also focuses on the world-famous production of the opera Brundibár, which the children staged in the camp’s oppressive conditions. Evička, known as Eva as she grew older, returned home at the age of sixteen, and as an adult became the artistic director of opera at Prague’s National Theatre, and had a family of her own. Linda Marková’s illustrations fittingly alternate cheerful and darker tones, documenting the narrative by Klára Dvořáková, one of the central heroine’s grandchildren. The author was also involved in publishing her grandmother’s memoirs, which came out in 2020 with the title The Last Herrmann Girl – The Road to Theresienstadt (Poslední Herrmannovic holka. Cesta do Terezína) aimed at adult readers.

Age: 7+

A literary reconstruction of one of the thousands of lives swallowed up by Russian history.

Alena Machoninová, a Russian Studies scholar, chose to embark on a subtle intellectual exercise by reconstructing the life of Helena Frischerová. A Moravian-born woman who landed up in Russia during the Stalinist terror, she also became the inspiration for the character Ri in Jiří Weil’s famous novel Moscow Border from 1937 (which was banned by the Czech communist regime). As it transpired years later, she managed to survive – unlike her husband, who was executed – and wrote down her recollections of the gulag where she spent ten years. In her literary-documentary novel, Machoninová follows the twists and turns in Russian intellectual thinking, reflects on the finer points of translation, and at the same time documents the attitudes of today’s ordinary Russians, including their views on the war in Ukraine. She also chronicles Frischerová’s memories and thoughts through her correspondence and memoirs. In doing so, she not only shows readers the tragedy of the Russian industrialization and modernization carried out by the authoritarian political system, but also the traumatized inner lives of its victims.

The true stories of three women, of different ages and nationalities, whose lives were affected by work camps during World War II.

‘Totální nasazení’ (total deployment) or ‘Totaleinsatz’ in German, was a term for forced labour during the World War II German occupation of Czechoslovakia. This comics, by three pairs of authors and illustrators, presents distinct stories about three women. Helena, Jarmila and Franciska’s lives are connected by forced labour. Helena, who was born into a Czech Jewish family in Ukraine, escapes from a labour camp and is constantly on the run. Jarmila signs up to work for the Nazis voluntarily, as she was cooperating with the resistance movement. She hopes that she can hide there from the Gestapo. Franciska was born shortly before the end of the war to a Polish mother and Czech father, who fell in love in a labour camp in Germany. After the war ends, she spends most of her childhood in communist orphanages. The different styles of the three artists complement the stories. Karel Osoha’s illustrations shift abruptly between cold muted browns and purples when Helena is on the run, and brighter colours as she recalls her life before the war. Tomáš Kučerovský’s dynamic use of close-ups and text-less panels add a new dimension to Jarmila’s story, that readers can find familiar. Petra Josefina Stibitzová’s fragile, almost child-like pencil and crayon drawings reflect Franciska’s parentless childhood. This comics is produced in cooperation with Post Bellum, an organisation which aims to increase public knowledge of Czech 20th Century history.

About the authors:

Ondřej Nezbeda (1979) is a journalist and author. From 2007–2014, he was an editor of the Respekt weekly magazine. Nezbeda has also worked as a meteorological observer, hospice carer and television dramaturge. In 2016, he published his first book, Průvodce smrtelníka (A Mortal’s Guide), about care for the dying, which won the Magnesia Litera Award for Discovery of the Year.

Tomáš Hodan (1980) is a screenwriter and director. In 2002, he graduated from the Zlín Film School and since then has written and directed a number of awardwinning short and feature-length films. As a documentary filmmaker, he has filmed in Angola, Afghanistan, Syria, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Cyprus. Since 2014, he has been writing scripts for the popular satirical series, Kancelář Blaník (Blaník Office), loosely inspired by the British comedy series The Thick of It.

Petra Soukupová (1982) is a prose writer, screenwriter and dramaturge. So far, she has published five books for adults and two for children. She also writes short stories. Soukupová’s bestselling books have received a number of awards and have been translated into seven languages. Preparations are underway for a film based on her short story, Na krátko (Cut Short), with a planned release date in 2018. As a screenwriter, Soukupová worked on the successful sitcom, Comeback (2008–2010), and the satirical series, Kosmo (2016). Her books have sold close to 90,000 copies.

This catalogue is published as an accompaniment to the National Stand of the Czech Republic at international book fairs in 2015.

One of the most inspiring Czech female artists reveals the riveting story behind her world prestige.

Having celebrated her 90th birthday, this opera singer, actress and living legend, recounts the 25-year period in her life after returning to her homeland. Soňa Červená’s private and professional life was marked by the dramatic events of the 20th century, which were tainted by Nazism and Communism. Her dazzling 40-year career includes one hundred opera roles, in four thousand shows on five continents. A singer with an unmistakable vocal timbre, she has performed with artists, such as Luciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo. She also collaborated with Lou Reed and Tom Waits, and performed on stages in New York, Hong Kong and Sydney. At the age of 77, she launched her second career in her hometown, at the National Theatre in Prague. After 30 years of emigration, and having been erased from the rich history she’d been such an integral part of, Červená returned to theatre and opera. She also found herself on movie screens and began to write. Her books include, Pining Averted, which builds on Červená’s memoirs, Stýskání zakázáno (Pining Forbidden, 2014), and the book Můj Václav (My Václav, 2001).

Marek Toman has found a truly original voice for the retelling of modern Czech and Central European history: the testimony of a building that has been witness to many historical, military, political, and personal events.

Marek Toman’s fictitious memoirs have an unusual, lofty protagonist: the Černín Palace, located in the vicinity of the Prague Castle. Built in the 17th century as the residence of Humprecht Jan Černín, the Habsburg imperial ambassador to Venice, it is currently the seat of the Ministry of Culture. Marek Toman has made the largest Baroque structure in Prague the protagonist of his novel, commenting upon the historical events that have passed it by over the centuries. Narrating its own story, the palace also describes the turning points in Czech history, from the day it was built up until the present day. Over time, the palace has served as a gallery, a hospital, military barracks, a shelter for the poor, or office of the Reichsprotektor during the Second World War. In great depth, the palace discusses the death of Jan Masaryk: after the Communist putsch in 1948, the former foreign minister fell out of the window of his quarters on the third floor of the palace. Could it have been murder?

After Czech literature in translation (2010, 2011), literature for children and young people (2012), comics (2012) and annuals cataloging new Czech fiction (2012, 2013, 2014), the latest in the Czech Ministry of Culture’s series of promotional publications looks at contemporary Czech theatre.

New Czech Drama (2000-2013) begins with studies by theatre scholars Jana Machalická and Jan Kerbr, followed by fifty profiles of selected authors, a bibliography and an index. The publication also includes black and white photographs by Jaroslav Prokop.

It is intended primarily for foreign audiences: bohemists, publishers who focus on new Czech literature, universities and libraries, as well as non-specialists such as visitors of book fairs, literary festivals and other similar events.