Slovak Literature in English Translation

Katarína Kucbelová (1979) is an award-winning Slovak poet, novelist and cultural manager. Born in Banská Bystrica, she studied at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava where she has lived, since graduating, with her husband and daughter. In 2006 she has worked for and/or founded several literature projects: Slovakia’s most prestigious literary award, the Anasoft Litera, which she headed until 2012; Literárny kvocient, a critics’ discussion of recent books; and the Trojica residency for translators organised by the Slovak Literary Centre. She is the author of five collections of poetry, with the most recent, k bielej (whitewards), winning the Golden Wave Prize for poetry as well as the Václav Burian Award. Her prose debut, Čepiec (The Bonnet) was voted Book of the Year by the daily Pravda in 2019; in 2020 it was shortlisted for the Anasoft Litera Award and received the Panta Rhei Literary Academy Award. It has since appeared in Czech, Hungarian, Polish and German translations. Her most recent book of fiction, Modrosleposť (Chasing Blue), published in 2023, was also shortlisted for the Anasoft Litera Award.