The Vilenica Almanac

The Vilenica Almanac, which features 11 authors from Central European and from other European countries, is the Festival’s marquee publication. The texts are published both in the original language and in Slovenian and English translation, and there are special sections devoted to the Vilenica Prize winner and the Author in Focus. Aleš Učakar is the editor of the Almanac.

Cover Image: Inge Kosková – Kresba s mantrou (Drawing with mantra), pen, ink, paper, 1997

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Minout se přesně. An Anthology of Contemporary Czech Literature

Czech Literature, Intimately Known and Unknown – Anthology Preface

Prepared by Dr. Alenka Jensterle Doležal, Slovenian co-editor of the anthology

The Anthology of Contemporary Czech Literature presents Slovenian readers with translations of twenty-one Czech authors, poets and prose writers of the last decade. Even though most of the authors are among the most recognisable names in contemporary Czech culture, they are less known to Slovenian readers.

Slovenians and Czechs have long been in vigorous contact. Relations between Slovenian and Czech culture were particularly strong up until 1918, when both Central European nations were still under a common Habsburg state. Cooperation continued further into the 20^th century, albeit under political pressure in the second half of the century – until the historic turn of events marking the end of that era. The fruitfulness of the Czech–Slovenian dialogue is particularly evident when it comes to translation. Slovenian prose and poetry have been translated since the 19^th century, and today’s Slovenian culture owes a debt in this respect. Although Slovenian–Czech exchanges imply that translation should be reciprocal, this is not always the case. After the political changes of 1989, the Czechs were better off in terms of Slovenian literature, especially poetry, since, thanks to František Benhart, numerous anthologies of contemporary Slovenian poets were translated and published, whereas only one such anthology was published in Slovenia during this period.

Few anthologies of Czech poetry or prose have been published in Slovenia. The first overview of Czech poetry (up to 1870) was edited by Ivan Lah (Czech Anthology 1, 1922). He included ten Czech poets and also provided an overview of Czech history and the development of Czech literature in the context of the national movement. In 1967, the editors František Benhart and Boris Urbančič published the anthology Time of Insomnia. A Selection of Contemporary Czech Short Fiction. The most recent overview of translations of Czech poetry in Slovenia (Unfortunate, Fortunate. An Anthology of Czech Poetry from the Second Half of the 20^th Century), edited by Jana Šnytová, Tatjana Jamnik and Petr Hruška, was published in 2012. It presents thirty-three Czech poets from the post-war period.

In the second half of the 20^th century and in the 21^st century, book-length translations of other Czech poets have appeared, among them, Jaroslav Seifert, Vladimír Holán, Jan Skácl, and, of the authors included in this anthology, Petr Hruška and Petr Borkovec.

Czech prose has been slightly better served in Slovenian, with translations dating back to the publications of Božena Nemcova, the grandmother of Czech authors (France Cegnar, 1862; Joža Glonar, 1944). Hašek’s Švejk [1], with its satirical humour, has become a cult work in Slovenia. In the 1970s and 1980s, the best-known Czech authors in Slovenia were three “Central European”: Bohumil Hrabal (1914–1997), who narrated a vanishing world; the controversial and provocative postmodern novelist Milan Kundera (1929–2023); and Václav Havel (1936–2011), the dramatist, philosopher and, later, statesman. For Slovenian readers, these were three constants that reflected the highest achievements of contemporary Czech prose and drama. Translation was also aided by the fact that some Czech authors were awarded the Vilenica Prize before and after the new millenium (Jan Skácel in 1989, Milan Kundera in 1992, Libuše Moníková in 1993, and Jáchym Topol in 2015). Czech fiction continued to be published in Slovenia quite frequently after independence in 1991, and translations have appeared regularly in the 21^st century (for example, of those included in the anthology, Bianca Bellová, Radka Denemarková, and Jáchym Topol).

The period of “normalisation” [2] significantly guided Czech culture and limited publication possibilities. Czech literature was subject to political pressure during this period, as only socialist authors could be published. In poetry, only some works by Jan Skácl or Jaroslav Seifert saw the light of day. Poetry and fiction, as well as other genres, remained underground. Books appeared in samizdat or were published abroad (for example, by 68 Publishers, founded in Toronto by Josef Škvorecký). However, the authors included in this anthology did not fully experience this period: only some of them started out in the underground (for example, Jáchym Topol and Tereza Brdečková); the others, being younger, know normalisation, one of the most difficult periods in Czech history, only through narrative.

After the end of normalisation and the Velvet Revolution at the end of the 20^th century, Czech literature underwent tectonic shifts that gave rise to 21^st-century Czech literature. Czech poetry and prose are becoming cosmopolitan, postmodern, with different poetics emerging, and no longer is Czech literature dominated by men. In the 21^st century, female authors have taken their place in Czech culture. Their importance is evinced, among other things, by their having won numerous awards, and their ascendancy in Czech literature has surprised even Czech literary critics and historians.

More than thirty years after the pivotal  year of 1989, new authors in both prose and poetry are emerging and establishing themselves in Czech literature. Their poetics are bold, cosmopolitan, unusual and original; in prose we find everything from classical narrative to postmodernism; in poetry they build their own poetic worlds, unmistakable and distinctive. The excerpts show writers who are original, critical of contemporary Czech society and phenomena in the world, and unafraid to explore the depths of language and push the boundaries of literature. The authors selected here represent the middle and younger generations. They choose different genres, pay a lot of attention to both form and content, and experiment with language. Some call themselves regional authors, others are closely connected with developments in Czech culture, and still others do not even live in the Czech Republic. Poets swear by creativity and the concept of originality, they explore the boundaries of the Czech language… Prose writers, meanwhile, no longer want to be merely political and documentary, as was often the norm during the period of normalisation. Their writing, however, also reflects on Czech history, and they also explore taboo topics (e.g. the events after the Second World War, the forced post-war emigration of Germans). In their fiction, they are interested in contemporary social problems: they criticise the nationalist response to streams of refugees, they describe the threat to democracy… In their modern accounts of reality, however, we can also find general themes, analyses of everyday life, psychological stories.

Any selection is a matter of choice, and is thus incomplete and limited. Many other authors could have been included in the Anthology, not least because the period covered here has seen so many fine Czech authors. That said, I am convinced that the anthology is sufficiently representative and indicates the richness and diversity of the mosaic of Czech creativity in our period.

Minout se přesně. An Anthology of Contemporary Czech Literature

The Vilenica Anthologies, Slovene Writers’ Association, 2024
Selected and edited by: Alenka Jensterle Doležal and Lenka Kuhar Daňhelová

Translated by: Anjuša Belehar, Alenka Jensterle Doležal in Peter Kuhar
Authors: Bianca Bellová, Petr Borkovec, Adam Borzič, Tereza Brdečková, Jitka Bret Srbová, Radka Denemarková, Miloš Doležal, Irena Dousková, Radek Fridrich, Klára Goldstein, Jiří Hájíček, Alice Horáčková, Petr Hruška, Dora Kaprálová, Adéla Knapová, Lenka Kuhar Daňhelová, Simona Martínková-Racková, Pavel Novotný, Viktor Špaček, Marek Toman, Jáchym Topol

The book was published with the support of the Slovenian Book Agency and the Czech literary centre CzechLit.

[1]    The author Fran Govekar was the first to translate The Good Soldier Švejk into Slovenian (1928); the novel was retranslated by the philologist and lexicographer Fran Bradač, the journalist Jože Zupančič, and by the poet and publisher Herman Vogel.

[2]    The period in Czechoslovakian history after the bloody suppression of the Prague Spring of 1968.