John Minahane

John Minahane was born in Ireland and has lived and worked in Slovakia since 1996, working as an English language teacher while pursuing his own literary and translation projects. He soon developed a love for the Slovak language and literature. Since 2004, he translated works of many notable Slovak writers and poets, from classics, key 20th century authors and many contemporary writers and poets.  Over the course of his distinguished career, he has written extensively on literature in the Irish language while also translating the works of other authors into English.  He has brought the best of Slovak literature to the attention of the wider world, an achievement for which he was decorated in 2022 with the Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav Award.

photo by Robert Hüttner

Book-length Translations

Fragment of a (Knight’s) Forest
by Ivan Štrpka
Modrý Peter/
Broken Sleep Books, 2026
Forms of Grace
by Peter Milčák
Modrý Peter/
Fooliar Press, 2024
I was Not Born for Quiet
by Janko Kráľ
Slovak Literary Centre, 2022
The Bloody Sonnets
by Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav
Slovak Literary Centre, 2018
Three Chestnut Horses
by Margita Figuli
Central European University Press, 2014
To Bear the Burden and Sing
by Milan Rúfus
Slovak Literary Centre, 2008

Translation Anthologies

Six Slovak Poets
Arc Publications, 2010