Launching SlovakLiterature.com
A curated site for Slovak literature in English.
Archive of Past News
Slovak Literature
Since 1989
Registration is now open for the one-day conference at UCL SSEES, London, on November 5th, 2019.
Andreea Scridon's review of Big Love and The Night Circus and Other Stories in
Interview with Ivana Dobrakovová
Featured as Author of the Week on BookBlast Diary
Slovak Literature
makes a splash on the
Two translations and five Riveting Reviews
Three Slovak authors
featured in
Uršuľa Kovalyk, Dušan Mitana, and Richard Pupala
in the Central European Short Story Issue
Asymptote: A report
from Slovakia
An overview of what's new in Slovak literature.
Raising the Velvet Curtain
in words, sounds and pictures
Looking back at the season of Slovak literature and arts in the UK in October and November 2019.
in memoriam
On February 10th, 2020, Pavel Vilikovský,
one of Slovakia’s most prominent writers,
passed away at the age of 78.
Bellevue nominated for prize
Ivana Dobrakovová’s book has been longlisted for the EBRD Literature Prize 2020.
Eternal Traffic book release
Congratulations to Mila Haugová and her translator,
James Sutherland-Smith, on their latest collection
of poetry in English, released by Arc Publications.
New podcast
Julia Sherwood now hosting a biweekly podcast of conversations about Slovak literature
Asymptote: Literary News
from Slovakia
Book of the Year, Slovakia's take on European Literature Night, and more
Balla “On the Pandemic”
in Asymptote
In This Together: Writers From Around the World Respond to the COVID-19 Outbreak
LIC now in English
The Centre for Information on Literature has a new website in English called Books from Slovakia
Congratulations to Mila Haugová
Slovak poet Mila Haugová is this year’s winner of the Vilenica Prize for Central European Literature.
Pavel Vilikovský featured
in Asymptote
"A Sentimental Education in March" by Pavel Vilikovský, translated and with an introduction by Charles Sabatos.
LitCast with Jonathan Gresty
In Lit_cast Slovakia #6, translator Jonathan Gresty talks about going native in Slovakia, and much more.
Corine Tachtiris reviews Bellevue
Read the latest review of Ivana Dobrakovová’s award-winning novel in World Literature Today.
Tomáš Forró’s Donbas
in Asymptote
Read an excerpt from Forro’s account of the Ukrainian conflict, translated by Magdalena Mullek.
“Slovak writers struggle to find path to Anglophone readers”
An article in The Slovak Spectator.
LitCast with Katarína Gephardt
In Lit_cast Slovakia #7, literature scholar Katarína Gephardt discusses her plans for a Companion to Contemporary Slovak Literature.s
Contemporary Slovak poetry featured in
Translations of 5 Slovak poets, and an interview with writer and translator Lucia Duero.
LitCast with Michael Stein
In Lit_cast Slovakia #8, writer and journalist
Michael Stein talks about the Central European
literary sensibility.
LitCast with Nataša Ďurovičová
In Lit_cast Slovakia #9, Nataša Ďurovičová talks about exile as the point of no return.
Sarah Hinlicky Wilson
reviews Big Love
“Slovakia is clinically depressed.”
Find out why in this review of Balla's Big Love.
LitCast
with James Sutherland-Smith
In Lit_cast Slovakia #10, James Sutherland-Smith talks about why translating prose is more difficult than translating poetry.
Mimi & Líza: A Slovak kid lit sensation
Julia Sherwood talks about a children’s book that teaches children to understand disability and accept otherness.
Announcing:
In 2021/2022 Seagull Books will kick off its Slovak List
with books by Monika Kompaníková, Jana Bodnárová, Irena Brežná, and Zuzana Cigánová.
LitCast with Mária Ferenčuhová
In Lit_cast Slovakia #11, Slovak poet and translator Mária Ferenčuhová talks about cooperative translation
of poetry.
European Literary London:
An Interactive Map
featuring excerpts from works by Gejza Vámoš, Pavel Vilikovský, and Zuska Kepplová.
LitCast with Sarah Hinlicky Wilson
In Lit_cast Slovakia #12, Sarah Hinlicky Wilson talks about the forgotten gems of Slovak literature.
LitCast with Marie-Theres Cermann
In Lit_cast Slovakia #13, Marie-Theres Cermann talks about why she believes the plight of refugees remains relevant even during the pandemic.
European Poets Night:
November 9, 2020
Listen to Slovak poet Mária Ferenčuhová read her poetry in this virtual event.
Asymptote:
Literary News from Slovakia
BraK festival, Novotvar festival, and other events.
LitCast with Ľudmila Pánisová
In Lit_cast Slovakia #14, Ľudmila Pánisová talks about the need to treat the source text with respect.
“Epic Sweep Without Epic Length”
Photo by David Konečný. Used with permission.
Michael Stein reviews Pavol Rankov's soon-to-be-published novel, It Happened on the First of September (or Some Other Time), translated by Magdalena Mullek, in Versopolis Review.
How the Slovak List Came to Be
Julia Sherwood talks with LIC about the four books selected for Seagull Books’ Slovak List.
LitCast with John Minahane
Photo from Pravda by Robert Hüttner. Used with permission.
In Lit_cast Slovakia #15, translator John Minahane reads from his translations of Slovak writers.
LitCast with Lucia Duero
In Lit_cast Slovakia #16, writer and translator Lucia Duero talks about navigating the cultural differences between Slovakia and Mexico.
LitCast with Mária Modrovich
In Lit_cast Slovakia #17, writer and editor Mária Modrovich talks about navigating Slovak literature through the website Books from Slovakia.
New in English
Pavol Rankov’s It Happened on the First of September (or Some Other Time), translated by Magdalena Mullek, now available from Slavica Publishers.
New Author Page
Pavol Rankov now on SlovakLiterature.com
Pavol Rankov wins Prix du livre européen 2020
for his novel It Happened on the First of September (or Some Other Time).
LitCast with Ivana Taranenková
In Lit_cast Slovakia #18, literature scholar Ivana Taranenková introduces a forthcoming English-language guide to contemporary Slovak literature.
It Happened on the First
of September in
Read an excerpt from the recently published English translation by Magdalena Mullek.
Michal Hvorecký
in Windows to Europe
Read the short story “Intimate Distance” translated by Julia and Peter Sherwood.
LitCast with Peter F. 'Rius Jílek
In Lit_cast Slovakia #19, literary critic Peter F. 'Rius Jílek shares his experience of being on the jury of Anasoft Litera.
Sarah Hinlicky Wilson reviews
“Rich in detail, subtle in execution, compelling and
page-turning…”
LitCast with Katarzyna Dudzic-Grabińska
In Lit_cast Slovakia #20, Polish translator and theater director Kasia Dudzic-Grabińska talks about how she combines literary translation with theater work.
LitCast with Irena Brežná
In Lit_cast Slovakia #21, award-winning writer and journalist Irena Brežná talks about rebelling against the dogma of writing in her native language.
LitCast with Éva Karádi
In Lit_cast Slovakia #22, Hungarian literary organizer Éva Karádi talks about championing Slovak literature.
Absurdist Fiction from Slovakia
Review of Jana Beňová’s Seeing People Off by Tabatha Leggett.
Asymptote: Literary News
from Slovakia
Remembering Ladislav Grossman, Pavol Rankov wins the European Book Prize 2020, publisher Koloman Kertész Bagala, and more.
LitCast with Ivana Hostová
In Lit_cast Slovakia #23, literature scholar Ivana Hostová talks about why publishing poetry in translation is challenging even in a translation-dominated culture such as Slovakia.
Ivana Dobrakovová on
Listen to a bilingual excerpt from Mothers and Truckers, and much more.
Julia Sherwood on World Kid Lit
(YouTube video opens in a separate tab.)
A discussion of Central European Literature for young readers.
Gwen Willems reviews
“Into the Spotlight: New Writing from Slovakia offers an interesting and efficient way to sample some of the best contemporary Slovak writers.”
LitCast with David Short
In the 25th episode of Lit_cast Slovakia, scholar and translator David Short talks about some of the staggering number of books he has translated.
Seagull Books
Announces Their Fall Catalogue
Featuring Boat Number Five by Monika Kompaníková and Necklace/Choker by Jana Bodnárová.
LitCast with Tünde Mészáros
In Lit_cast Slovakia #26, translator Tünde Mészáros talks about the importance of musicality in translation.
LitCast with Monika Kompaníková
In Lit_cast Slovakia #27, writer Monika Kompaníková talks about the universal appeal of her novel Boat Number Five.
Asymptote: Literary News from Slovakia
Vertigo Fest – Poetry Without Borders, BRaK literary festival, Literafest, Pohoda, and more
LitCast with Tomáš Hučko
In Lit_cast Slovakia #28, translator and journalist Tomáš Hučko talks about the joys and challenges of translating John Fante, Henry David Thoreau, and John Steinbeck.
“The Season of Our Discontent” in
Michael Stein reviews Viliam Klimáček's The Hot Summer of 1968, translated by Peter Petro.
New in English
Viliam Klimáček's The Hot Summer of 1968 translated by Peter Petro, now available from Mandel Vilar Press and Dryad Press.
LitCast with Martin Janeček
In Lit_cast Slovakia #29, deputy director of Karolinum Press Martin Janeček talks about bringing Czech books to foreign audiences and reveals plans for a new Modern Slovak Classics series.
Sarah Hinlicky Wilson reviews
“The novel brilliantly allows us to sympathize with all sides—and to recognize just what a challenge mutual understanding is…”
Asymptote: Literary News from Slovakia
Month of Authors’ Readings, Pohoda, and other literary events
New Author Page
Viliam Klimáček now on SlovakLiterature.com
Final LitCast!
Julia Sherwood rejoices with her producer, Peter Michalik, in the show’s 30th and final episode.
Elizabeth Stigler reviews
Reprinted with permission of CSAGSI and the author
“It is that tension between constraint and freedom, reality and fantasy, the plans you made for your life and the life that you end up living that makes this such a compelling read.”
New in English
My Seven Lives: Jana Juráňová in Conversation with Agneša Kalinová, translated by Julia and Peter Sherwood, now available from Purdue University Press
New in English
Boat Number Five translated by Janet Livingstone and Necklace/Choker translated by Jonathan Gresty now available from Seagull Books
Two New Author Pages
Jana Bodnárová and Monika Kompaníková now on SlovakLiterature.com
The Equestrienne Gets a Reprint
The Modern Novel reviews
“…she does skillfully recall, through the eyes of the protagonists, a lost time which cannot be recreated…”
Riveting Interview with poet Mária Ferenčuhová
Rosie Goldsmith interviews the poet about her collection “Threatened Species” and more
Nóra Ružičková's poetry featured in
A selection from Contemporaneities translated by Ivana Hostová
Asymptote: Literary News from Slovakia
Barbora Hrínová wins the Anasoft Litera Award, new Slovak titles in English, and much more
A Talk by Charles Sabatosvia YouTube
“Issues of Language and Identity in Gejza Vámoš's God's Atoms”
“Every Person is a Minority in Themselves”
An Interview with Barbora Hrínová, winner of Anasoft Litera 2021
“Thoroughly Mainstream or Decidedly Alternative”
An Interview with literary organizer František Malík on the Asymptote blog
Marek Vadas featured
in the inaugural issue of
Read an excerpt from “In Front of the Mirror” translated by Julia Sherwood
A review of It Happened on the First of September in
Michael Kopanic reviews Pavol Rankov's It Happened on the First
of September (or Some Other Time)
Michael Stein reviews
My Seven Lives in
“In My Seven Lives moments of high drama and tragedy co-exist effortlessly with everyday life.”
Richard Pupala nominated
for EUPL 2022
photo by Štefánia Kažimírová
Slovak author Richard Pupala is one of this year's nominees for the European Union Prize for Literature.
An Interview with Zuzana Husárová
Ivana Hostová interviews poet Zuzana Husárová
for Asymptote
Slovak AI Poetry Wins a National Poetry Prize
Ivana Hostová on the neural network “poet” Liza Gennart
Fragments of the Vanishing Speech in
Contemporary Slovak Poetry Part II
Boat Number Five shortlisted for EBRD Literature Prize 2022
Written by Monika Kompaníková, translated by Janet Livingstone, published by Seagull Books
Read an excerpt from Women and Men, Animals
An excerpt from Richard Pupala's book translated by Julia Sherwood
Asymptote: Literary News from Slovakia
Anasoft Litera longlist, European Literary House in Kremnica
Interview with translator Janet Livingstone
“A translator has to be a writer, painter, and empath.”
Interview with author Monika Kompaníková
“Writers whose languages are ‘small’ are at a huge disadvantage.”
Andrew Singer reviews
“Some lives are iconic…”
Monika Kompaníková and Janet Livingstone on
Author and translator talking about Boat Number Five
New Author Page
Ján Johanides now on SlovakLiterature.com
New in English
But Crime Does Punish by Ján Johanides, translated by Julia and Peter Sherwood, published by Karolinum Press
New in English
Mothers and Truckers by Ivana Dobrakovová, translated by Julia and Peter Sherwood, published by Jantar
Lukáš Cabala in B O D Y
Read an excerpt from Spring in Yekaterinburg translated by Magdalena Mullek
Celebrating 3 years of
Read an article about us in the BCSA Review
Asymptote: Literary News from Slovakia
A literary controversy, Author's Reading Month, and much more
New in English by
Dead by Balla, translated by David Short,
published by Jantar Publishing
“Disparate and Distressed Dames” in
A review of Ivana Dobrakovová's Mothers and Truckers by Anna West
New in English
A selection of Janko Kráľ's poetry, translated by John Minahane, published by LIC