The Book of Prague; A City in Short Fiction Literature and Books

Away from the Old Town Square, these stories take us into less-visited corners of Prague: from the steep streets of the proudly edgy Žižkov neighbourhood, to the flood-ravished suburb of Karlín, from the tensions experienced by the city’s Romani community to the dehumanising post-war redevelopment of areas like Libeň proving that there are always sides to a city’s character you would never have imagined. A discussion chaired by Ra Page, editor in chief of Comma Press.

The Book of Prague
A City in Short Fiction
Edited by Ivana Myšková & Jan Zikmund
Published by: Comma Press
The book was published through the instigation and support of the Czech Literary Centre
Featuring: Bohumil Hrabal , Michal Ajvaz, Irena Dousková , Simona Bohatá , Jan Zábrana , Petr Borkovec , Marek Šindelka, Patrik Banga , Veronika Bendová & Marie Stryjová

Format: Paperback
Book type: Anthology
ISBN-13: 9781912697786
Published: 05 Oct 2023
https://commapress.co.uk/books/the-book-of-prague

Admission: £5 (+Eventbrite fee)
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About our guests

Veronika Bendová (1974) was born in Prague and has spent her whole life there. She studied film screenwriting and dramaturgy at the FAMU film academy in the city and has devoted most of her adult life to raising her five children. She made her literary debut in 2012 with the novel Nonstop Eufrat, which has been translated into Spanish. She followed this in 2019 with Vytěženej kraj (A Depleted Land), which was shortlisted for the prose category of the Magnesia Litera Award. She also occasionally publishes short stories. She currently works as an editor at the Twentieth Century Memorial Museum, an institution documenting and preserving the memory of regimes and events in the former Czechoslovakia.

Marek Šindelka (1984) studied Cultural Studies at Charles University in Prague and screenwriting at the FAMU film academy. His debut poetry collection, Strychnin a jiné básně (Strychnine and Other Poems, 2005), won the Jiří Orten Award for writers under thirty. His novels and short story collections have been translated into several languages, including English, French and Dutch, and have won two Magnesia Litera awards. The short story “Realities” featured in this book comes from his collection of interlinked short stories Mapa Anny (A Map of Anna, 2014).

Paul Kaye (1969) was born in Bolton in the UK, and after studying biology and French at university, moved to Bratislava, Slovakia, shortly after the break-up of Czechoslovakia. While teaching English he began picking up the local languages, later moving into radio journalism and translation. He then worked for a decade as an environment policy journalist in Brussels, where he lives and now works as a translator for the European Union.

Jan Zikmund (1992) works for the Czech Literary Centre where he is primarily responsible for the promotion of Czech literature in English-speaking countries. He is also an editor of the English-language literary magazine B O D Y. He is currently a member of the jury of the Magnesia Litera Award for Poetry, the most prestigious Czech literary award.

Ra Page (1972) is the CEO and Founder of Comma Press. He has edited over 20 anthologies, including The City Life Book of Manchester Short Stories (Penguin, 1999), The New Uncanny (winner of the Shirley Jackson Award, 2008), and most recently Resist: Stories of Uprising (2019). He has coordinated a number of publisher development initiatives, including Literature Northwest (2004-2013), and the Northern Fiction Alliance (2016-present). He is a former journalist and has also worked as a producer and director on a number of short films. He read Physics at Balliol College, Oxford and has an MA in English from the University of Manchester. Ra has been recognised by the h100 Awards for the last two years running (2019/2020) for his contribution to the Publishing & Writing industry in the UK, and was included in The Bookseller 150 list in 2020, their annual guide to the book trade's most influential figures.

Organised in collaboration with the Czech Literary Centre.

Part of the 27th Made In Prague Festival (3rd November - 10th December 2023) organized by the Czech Centre London. More info: https://bit.ly/27thMadeInPragueFestival

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