INTRODUCTION CZECHIA


TEXT Tom Tivnan


or a relatively small country, Czechia has had a very deep impact on world literature. This starts with the giants with whom we are all familiar, Franz Kafka and Milan


Kundera, two chroniclers—albeit in so very different ways—of living under totalitarianism. But there is so much more to Czech letters,


particularly flourishing since the late 19th and particularly early 20th century. There is Jaroslav Hašek whose dark comedy The Good Soldier Švejk shows the absurdity of war; the playwright Karel Čapek who gave the world the word “robot” in his masterpiece, “R.U.R.” (now adapted as a graphic novel, see p7); and the novelist and Kundera’s contemporary, Ivan Klíma, to name just three heavyweights. It speaks volumes about the country’s literary culture that the first elected president of the Czech Republic (Czechia became the official English-language name in 2016) was author and playwright Václav Havel. A hefty literary legacy can sometimes


AUTHOR, PLAYWRIGHT


AND FORMER PRESIDENT VÁCLAV HAVEL


obscure the present. But there is a cogent argument to be made that Czech writing at the moment—led by the generations that came of age during the latter part and immediately after the Soviet occupation—is one of the most fascinating and creative eras the nation has ever seen, starting with a swath of star


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literary novelists led by Bianca Bellová, whose The Lake is one of the biggest recent Czech international rights successes (see pp4–5). Bellová is hardly alone: other novelists with growing global appeal include Radka Denemarková, a star in Germany; multi-prize winner Kateřina Tučková, who has been translated into 21 languages; and Alena Mornštajnová, whose Hana has sold into eight territories. Many of the hottest Czech writers feature in The Book of Prague (see next page), an upcoming anthology from Comma Press, including Michal Ajvaz and Marek Šindelka, the latter of whom has been particularly successful in Belgium and the Netherlands. Children’s is another fecund area, perhaps


starting with the grand master Peter Sís—who, like Kundera, left home during the Soviet era and did not return for decades—but there is a vibrant new generation of creators, such as Tereza Šedivá, whose Thames & Hudson- published picture book Mole in a Black and White Hole was recently nominated for the British Book Production and Design Awards. This is just the start. Czech poets and graphic novelists are also surging globally— the latter in particular, with many saying it is the golden age of Czech comics. And the country has just been announced as the 2026 Frankfurt Book Fair Guest of Honour. Right now, Czechia is making its mark.


Photography: Shutterstock. Cover art: Jaromír 99


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