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Czech Books“Sala’s Gift”: a whole war in a tin box
You will probably not have heard of Gross Sarne, Brande, Blechhammer or
Schatzlar, but these are places that should be remembered. They were all
Nazi slave labour camps in World War Two. The last on that list, Schatzlar,
or Žacléř as it is known in Czech, was in what is now the Czech
Republic, in the part of north-eastern Bohemia annexed by the German Reich
in 1938. Few people in this country, even among the inhabitants of
Žacléř itself, know that the camp even existed, but a new book should
help to put that right. The daughter of one of the survivors has just been
in the Czech Republic, to launch the Czech edition of her book “Sala’s
Gift”. The book tells her mother’s story, drawing richly from Sala’s
own memories and from several hundred letters that, against all odds,
survived the war. David Vaughan tells the story. More
Czech BooksA new “Czech Literature Guide” gives useful insights into the world of Czech books
If you’re looking for an overview of the current Czech literary scene in
English – everything from surrealist poets to second-hand bookshops –
the new “Czech Literature Guide” should be just the book for you. As it
states in its introduction, the book’s aim is to present a “panorama of
the contemporary life of Czech literature”. David Vaughan reports. More
Czech Books“Heaven, distance, light and dazzling brightness”: Czech literary links with Scandinavia
Did you know that one of Norway’s popular writers is actually Czech, or
that in the mid 1930s Karel Čapek fell in love with the forests and skies
of Scandinavia? And do Czechs and Danes have more in common than just beer?
David Vaughan looks at Czech-Scandinavian literary links. More
Czech BooksTomáš Zmeškal: The Biography of a Black-and-White Lamb
When Tomáš Zmeškal’s first novel was published four years ago, one
critic described it in ecstatic terms as a “gold vein amid the deadwood
of contemporary Czech scribbling”. The book, A Love Letter in Cuneiform
Script, went on to win the coveted European Union Prize for Literature last
year and Tomáš Zmeškal has won international acclaim, although we are
still waiting for either of his two novels published so far to appear in
English. David Vaughan talks to the writer. More
Czech BooksDickens and the Good Soldier Švejk
Here is a question for the Dickens bicentenary. What is the connection
between the great 19th century English novelist and the best-loved Czech
literary anti-hero? The answer is, surprisingly enough, that without
Dickens we quite possibly wouldn’t have Švejk at all. David Vaughan
looks at this and some other Czech links with Dickens in this week’s
Czech Books. More
Czech HistoryJaroslav Foglar and his “Rapid Arrows”
Writer and youth movement activist Jaroslav Foglar left a deep trace in
Czech popular culture. Besides more than 25 novels for children, Jaroslav
Foglar is also the father of Rychlé šípy, or “Rapid Arrows”, a
legendary comics that has earned a following with generations of Czech
readers. Persecuted by the Nazis and the communists, the writer also
single-handedly founded his own youth organization which, in its heyday,
had tens of thousands of members across the country. More
Czech BooksHana Andronikova: mourning a powerful Czech literary voice
It seems very strange to be talking about the Czech writer Hana Andronikova
in the past tense. When she died of cancer on December 20th last year, she
was only 44, and until the last months of her life had been at the height
of her creative powers. Author of two successful novels, several plays and
numerous short stories, she was one of the most versatile younger Czech
writers, and will be hugely missed. David Vaughan looks at her life and
work. More
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