Section Archive Czech Books
Czech literary treasures in London
Not many of the thousands of passengers arriving every day at London’s
busy St Pancras Station are aware that they are passing just a few dozen
metres away from one of the largest and most diverse collections of Czech
books outside the Czech Republic. Tucked in beside the station is the huge,
but surprisingly inconspicuous complex of the British Library. In this
week’s Czech Books, David Vaughan shows us some of the highlights of the
library’s rich Czech collection.
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Hearth and Horizon: cultural identity in a globalised world.
This week’s Czech Books visits the home of the distinguished philosopher
and author, Professor Erazim Kohák, to discuss his book, Hearth and
Horizon. After exile from Czechoslovakia in 1948, Professor Kohák had a
long academic career in the United States, and is Professor Emeritus at
Boston University. He returned to his native land in 1990, and since then
has continued to teach philosophy and write, is the recipient of the
highest academic and cultural honours, and is one of those who could truly
be called a public intellectual. Hearth and Horizon is his book about
cultural identity in a globalised world and in particular asks the question
- what does it mean to be Czech? I first asked Professor Kohák what the
impetus for writing the book had been.
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From Finnegan’s Wake to Calisthenics: Czech-Irish relations in the first half of the 20th century
A book entitled “Czech-Irish Cultural Relations 1900-1950” may sound a
little obscure, but this slim volume published last year by the Centre for
Irish Studies of Prague’s Charles University is anything but a dull, dry
thesis. The book covers a hugely interesting and complex period, during
which Ireland emerged from centuries of rule from London and Czechoslovakia
arose from the ashes of the Habsburg Empire. David Vaughan picks up the
story, in this week’s Czech Books.
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Simon Mawer talks about The Glass Room
One of the most acclaimed books to be published in the last couple of years
is the Man Booker Prize shortlisted novel, The Glass Room, by the British
writer, Simon Mawer. It is a book with more than a passing relevance to the
Czech Republic, as the hero is a building that stands to this day on the
edge of the city of Brno.
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Hana Wilson: messing about on boats after two decades on the airwaves
When she lost her job after twenty years in the Czech section of the BBC,
Hana Wilson was far from despondent. She simply allowed her hobby to take
over her life. Hana, who left Czechoslovakia back in 1980, has spent much
of the last decade on the waterways of Britain. Now she has published a
book, introducing Czechs to the wonders of life on a narrowboat. Hana
Wilson is David Vaughan’s guest in this week’s edition of Czech Books.
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Lost and found in translation: writers discuss the complexities of literature across frontiers
Last month Prague hosted Bookworld, one of Europe’s major international
book fairs. Writers from around the world, whose work covers a Babel of
different languages, converged on the Czech capital. As part of the event,
six of the writers got together to talk about how literature can play a
role in helping to build understanding between cultures. A lively
discussion emerged, chaired by Radio Prague’s David Vaughan.
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A remarkable book tells a story of resilience and courage
Not many people have their first book published when they are over 80, but
Jaroslava Skleničková is a remarkable exception. Her home village is
Lidice, a few miles to the west of Prague, where she and her husband
Čestmír, will be celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary next year.
But the fact that Jaroslava is alive at all is nothing short of a miracle.
Her book, which has just been published in English, tells the moving story
of her life, as David Vaughan reports in this week’s Czech Books.
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Heresy and Rebellion in Prague
The Prague Writers’ Festival which begins on June 6 is all about the
encounter of ideas. Over the last twenty years this annual event has become
a lively forum for writers from many parts of the world, and the diversity
of their work and thought has been the festival’s greatest strength. This
year it revolves around the theme of Heresy and Rebellion, pointing to the
perennial tension between the writer and the society in which he or she
lives. A couple of days ago I met the festival director, Michael March, to
talk about this year’s event. We began by looking at the festival’s roots,
which go back more than 30 years. In the late 1970s Michael March started
organizing readings in London by writers from behind the Iron Curtain, and
in the process he found out just how little people knew about Central and
Eastern Europe.
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Ivan Jelínek: a poet in the newsroom
If you had been listening to Radio Prague back in the late 1930s, it is
very likely that you would have heard the voice of Ivan Jelínek. He was
one of the pioneers of broadcasting in Czechoslovakia, and an early
presenter of our broadcasts to Britain and North America. From the radio
headquarters here in Vinohrady, he witnessed many of the dramas leading up
to World War Two, including moment of the German occupation itself. During
his wartime exile in Britain and in the decades that followed the war, Ivan
Jelínek became a familiar voice in the Czechoslovak section of the BBC,
and he continued to broadcast from London until his death in 2002, at the
age of 93. But Ivan Jelínek was not just a broadcaster. His lifelong
passion was poetry. In Czech Books this week, I’ll be looking at
Jelínek’s fascinating life and work.
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A pioneering Czech academic explores how our native tongue influences the way we see the world
What goes on in our mind when we learn a foreign language? Why do we find
it so much harder than learning our mother tongue? And what can we do to
make the often painful process of learning languages easier? These are just
a few of the questions that have long fascinated the Czech psycholinguist
Barbara Schmiedtová. Still in her mid thirties, Barbara has taught and
researched at many top European universities, and has published extensively
in English, German and Dutch – all of which see speaks fluently alongside
her native Czech – exploring the pioneering science of psycholinguistics.
Put simply, this is the study of what goes on in our head when we are
speaking and understanding language. When we met in Prague a few days ago,
Barbara told me about the research she is currently carrying out at the
University of Heidelberg in Germany, and about her particular interest in
second-language learning.
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