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SpecialVáclav Havel - 'Guardian Angel'
This play is vintage Havel, his only radio play, dating back to the first half of 1968, when he was at the height of his creative powers. Not long after it was completed, Soviet tanks brought an end to the reforms of the Prague Spring, and for two decades the play was left on the shelf. More
Czech BooksThe prison poet: remembering Ivan Martin Jirous
Last month was the end of an era in Czech poetry. The man who practically
embodied the poetic underground of the 1970s and 80s, Ivan Martin Jirous
– alias Magor, or Loony in English – died at the age of 67. Not only
was Magor one of best Czech poets of his generation, but also the driving
force behind the underground rock scene. He embodied the longing for
rebellion and freedom, as so-called “normalization” sucked the air out
of Czech and Slovak society. In Czech Books, David Vaughan talks to one of
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Current AffairsAnniversary of Velvet Revolution marked by anti-government demonstrations
On Thursday, November 17th, the Czech Republic marked 22 years since the
start of the Velvet Revolution as well as the 72nd anniversary of the
events of November 1939 which resulted in the closure of all Czech
universities by the Nazis and reprisals against students and intellectuals.
But many Czechs used the holiday to voice their discontent with the current
government policies. More
Current AffairsCzech underground legend Ivan Martin Jirous dies aged 67
One of the legends of the Czech underground, poet Ivan Martin Jirous, died
in Prague on Thursday at the age of 67. Ivan Jirous, or Magor – literally
“the crazy one” as he was affectionately called by his friends – was
perhaps best-known as the artistic manager and spiritual leader of the
underground band The Plastic People of the Universe, but this eternal rebel
was also a sensitive, contemplative poet and master of the Czech language. More
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