Lit_cast Slovakia

In Episode 20 of Lit_Cast Slovakia Polish translator and theatre director Kasia Dudzic-Grabińska talks to Julia Sherwood about what she misses most about Slovakia and her favourite Slovak theatre companies, how she combines literary translation with theatre work, why she objects to „pop Auschwitz“ literature and about the challenge of finding hidden literary allusions in Milo Janáč’s alcohol-fuelled novella.

In the first edition of LitCast Slovakia in 2021, literary critic Peter F. ‘Rius Jílek helps Julia Sherwood usher in the New Year in a conversation ranging from earthquakes and the pandemic to the importance of literary awards. He shares his experience of being on the jury of Anasoft Litera, explains why he doesn’t mince his words in his reviews, and calls for a sustained and better funded campaign to promote Slovak literature abroad.

In the 18th and last instalment of Lit_Cast Slovakia of 2020, literature scholar Ivana Taranenková talks to Julia Sherwood about this year’s literary output, both by established and emerging Slovak writers and assesses the impact of the pandemic on the country‘s literary life and research. She introduces a forthcoming English-language publication that will offer insiders‘ and outsiders‘ look at contemporary Slovak literature, and tells why her favourite 19th century Slovak author is Martin Kukučín.

In LitCast Slovakia 17 writer and editor Mária Modrovich talks to Julia Sherwood about the works of literature and cinema that have inspired her writing, about Slovak literary prizes and festivals and the literary scene in New York City, as well as about helping people to navigate the waters of Slovak literature through the website Books from Slovakia.

In Lit_Cast Slovakia #16 writer and translator Lucia Duero talks to Julia Sherwood about the chance encounter in Spain that led her from Slovakia to Mexico, and navigating cultural differences between these two countries. She discusses her favourite Slovak poets whom she has introduced to Spanish readers through her translations, and to the Anglophone public through the journal Tupelo Quarterly and talks about the irrational criteria she uses to choose the authors she translates regardless of commercial considerations, and why she enjoys translating without a contract with a publisher.

In Lit_Cast Slovakia # 15 translator John Minahane tells Julia Sherwood why a new English translation of the anti-war cycle The Bloody Sonnets was needed and what their author Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav has in common with the Russian futurist poet Velemir Khlebnikov. His succinct and vivid characterisations of a range of Slovak writers from Ladislav Novomeský, Miroslav Válek and Milan Rúfus through Ivan Štrpka to Ivan Kolenič and Peter Macsovszky are accompanied by spirited readings from his translations of their works.

In Lit_Cast Slovakia # 14 translation studies scholar Ľudmila Pánisová talks to Julia Sherwood about the legacy of Professor Anton Popovič and the need to treat the source text with respect; she welcomes the growing number of English translations of Slovak literature and suggests that more writing from the interwar and postwar period, as well as crime stories and books for children and young adults should be translated.

In Lit_Cast Slovakia #13 translator Marie-Theres Cermann talks to Julia Sherwood about persuading German-language publishers to give Slovak writers a chance, about the joys and challenges of translating Balla, Marek Vadas and Ivan Medeši and why she believes the plight of refugees remains relevant even during the pandemic.

In Lit_Cast #12, Lutheran pastor, publisher, editor and blogger Sarah Hinlicky Wilson, who grew up in the US and now lives in Japan, talks to Julia Sherwood about diving into the history of Slovakia and unearthing some forgotten gems in her quest to read every single Slovak novel available in English. She explains her criteria for rating books, recommends her favourite Slovak works of literature and unveils the most translated Slovak writer of all times.

In Lit_Cast Slovakia #11, Slovak poet and translator Mária Ferenčuhová tells Julia Sherwood how the pandemic made her appreciate virtual literary events and turn from writing straight poetry to texts dealing with fragility, aging and dying, on working in an interdisciplinary and intuitive way of working. She also talks about translating Michel Houellebecq and cooperative translation of poetry, and recommends a bunch of Slovak poets to read in, or be translated into English.