Two Slovak writers whose work is just coming out in English translation will be appearing this Wednesday, May 17 at Waterstones Piccadilly in London. Balla and Ivana Dobrakovová, together with translator Julia Sherwood will participate in conversation with Rosie Goldsmith. Dobrakovová and Balla’s work are both included in the excellent Slovak fiction anthology Into the […]
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Ales Steger in London
On April 23, Slovenian writer Aleš Šteger is appearing at the Sunday Salon in conversation with poet Stephen Watts at Burley Fisher Books in London. The event is taking place to celebrate the publication of the English of Šteger’s novel Absolution (tr. by Urška and Noah Charney) by Istros Books. You can read an excerpt […]
Ales Steger in B O D Y
“The chauffeur takes off his blindfold and leaves him in front of an unfamiliar villa by a lake. The door opens to a dim living room. Crackling embers in the fireplace. Some twenty masked people, cloaked in black habits. Latin plainsong…” From Absolution by Aleš Šteger, translated from the Slovene by by by Urška Charney […]
Slovak Fiction Week: fiction anthology review
Into the Spotlight is a soon-to-be-published anthology of contemporary Slovak fiction including writers such as Uršuľa Kovalyk, Pavel Vilikovský, Monika Kompaníková and many more. It was translated by Julia Sherwood and Magdalena Mullek and published by Three String Books (an imprint of Slavica Publishers). You can read my review of this fantastic anthology here. Read […]
Ondrej Stefanik in B O D Y
“I’m on display here, you fool. I’m wearing my best dress, simple, posh, fresh like fresh fruit, flammable, cling-wrapped to protect it from vagrants, cool like a crouching leopard with taut muscles. And the first words you shoot at me are Hi, Paula, feeling better now? A cheeky question. As inappropriate as the cheap tablecloths with […]
Slovak Fiction Week in B O D Y
In the last four years B O D Y has published a lucky 13 pieces of Slovak fiction, soon to go up to 14. With short stories and novel excerpts – some now published, others still awaiting publishers for their English translations – we have presented some of the best contemporary Slovak writers, including Pavel […]
B O D Y’s Slovak Fiction Week: Dusan Mitana
In 1965 Dušan Mitana published the short story “On a Tram” (V električke) in the Slovak literary journal Mladá tvorba, which tells of a passing erotic encounter between two strangers on a tram. After it was published 12 different women contacted the author claiming to have been the woman in the story. Thirty-six years later […]
Tea Tulic in B O D Y
“They say that when people jump from their own – or someone else’s – windows and balconies, they first take off their socks, shoes, trainers, slippers. They jump barefoot. With their hangnails, corns and hard heels. They go to join their barefoot ancestors.” From the absolutely unique and brilliant award-winning Hair Everywhere by Tea Tulić, […]
Anasoft Litera 2017 shortlist
Anasoft Litera has announced its 10 finalists for the 12th year of Slovakia’s most prestigious literary award. The finalists were chosen from 227 books, the highest number to date, and the winner of the 10,000 euro prize will be announced at the beginning of September. The finalists include Ondrej Štefánik for I, Paula (Som Paula), […]
Israel Centeno in B O D Y
While more contemporary Latin American writers have found their way into English translation following the Bolaño phenomenon there are still major talents without a toe let alone a foot in the door and major blank spaces on the map. This brings us to Venezuelan writer Israel Centeno, whose work Aurelio Major, co-founding editor of Granta […]
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