Slovak Literature in English Translation

Balla’s most recent book, Among the Ruins, shortlisted for the Anasoft Litera Prize in 2021, consists of fragments of newspaper reports, TV news items, conversations, letters, voice messages, and police reports related to a fragile middle-aged woman, Vargová, and her drug and alcohol dependent therapist, Dr. Felešlegi. It is a thought-provoking, often funny portrait of human frailty, blurring the boundaries between sanity and insanity.