Jáchym Topol


Jáchym Topol is a Czech poet, novelist, musician and journalist who became a laureate of the Czech State Award for Literature in October 2017 for his novel A Sensitive Person and his life work to date.
WWW jachymtopol.czFB jachym.topol

Life

Jáchym Topol was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, to Josef Topol, Czech playwright, poet, and translator of Shakespeare, and Jiřina Topolová, daughter of the famous Czech Catholic writer Karel Schulz.
Topol's writing began with lyrics for the rock band Psí vojáci, led by his younger brother, Filip, in the late '70s and early '80s. In 1982, he cofounded the samizdat magazine Violit, and in 1985 Revolver Revue, a samizdat review that specialized in modern Czech writing.
Because of his father's dissident activities, Topol was not allowed to go to university. After graduating from gymnasium he worked as a stoker, stocker, construction worker, and coal deliveryman. Several times he was imprisoned for short periods, both for his samizdat publishing activities and for his smuggling across the Polish border in cooperation with members of Polish Solidarity. He was also a signatory of the Charter 77 human rights declaration.
During the 1989 Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia, Topol wrote for the independent newsletter Informační servis, which later became the investigative weekly Respekt. He has also worked for the daily Lidové noviny. He currently works as program director for the Václav Havel Library in Prague.
Topol has two daughters, Josefína and Marie, with his first wife, and a son, Vojtěch Eliáš, with his second.

Works

Poetry

Eskymáckej pes Stěhovavá tvář Noty pro podzimní bytost Miluju tě k zbláznění
/ Topol's first collection of poetry, published in samizdat, received the Tom Stoppard Prize for Unofficial Literature ; first non-samizdat edition published by Atlantis in 1990. / translation Анжелина Пенчева : Обичам те до лудост, Парадокс, Sofie V úterý bude válka
/ Five poems from this collection were published in Alex Zucker's translation in the Spring 1994 issue of Trafika: an international literary review.Děsivý spřežení – selection of poems from three samizdat collections plus the short story Venezuela.
  • ''Udržuj svou ledničku plnou. Písňové texty a zhudebněné básně 1979-2021''

Novels

Sestra
/ Received the 1995 Cena Egona Hostovského, awarded for a "novel which artistically exceeds the standard production"
/ English translation Alex Zucker: City Sister Silver
/ Polish translation Leszek Engelking: Siostra
/ Also translated into German and HungarianAnděl
/ German translation Peter Sacher: Engel Exit
/ French translation Marianna Canavaggio: Ange exit
/ Turkish translation Martin Alaçam: Andel
/ Also translated into HungarianNoční práce
/ French translation Marianna Canavaggio: Missions nocturnes
/ Polish translation Leszek Engelking: Nocna praca
/ English translation Marek Tomin: Nightwork
/ Also translated into Croatian, Dutch, German, Italian, Spanish and SwedishKloktat dehet
/ French translation Marianna Canavaggio: Zone cirque
/ Polish translation Leszek Engelking: Strefa cyrkowa
/ English translation David Short: Gargling with Tar
/ Also translated into Dutch, German, Italian, Norwegian.Chladnou zemí
/ Received the 2010 Cena Jaroslava Seiferta
/ Swedish translation Tora Hedin: Kallt land
/ Dutch translation Edgar de Bruin: De werkplaats van de duivel
/ Italian translation Letizia Kostner: L'officina del diavolo
/ English translation Alex Zucker: The Devil's Workshop Citlivý člověk
/ Received the State Prize for Literature in 2017 for this novel and his life work to date
/ Polish translation Dorota Dobrew: Wrażliwy człowiek, wydawnictwo czarne, Sękowa
/ German translation Eva Profousová: Ein empfindsamer Mensch, Suhrkamp
/ Italian translation Laura Angeloni: Una persona sensibile, Keller editore, Rovereto
/ Dutch translation Edgar de Bruin: Een gevoelig iemand, Uitgeverij Voetnoot, Antwerpen
/ Macedonian translation Соња Стојменска-Елзесер : Чувствителен човек, Артконект, Skopje
/ French translation Marianne Canavaggio: Une personne sensible, Noir sur Blanc Lausanne
/ Serbian translation Uroš Nikolić: Osetljivi čovek, Heliks, Beograd
/ Lithuanian translation Vaida Braškyté Němečková: Jautrus žmogus, Aukso žuvys, Vilnius
/ Croatian translation Mirna Stehlíková Đurasek: Osjetljiv čovjek, V.B.Z., Zagreb / Swedish translation Marie Wenger: En Känslig Själ, Rámus förlag, Malmö / English translation Alex Zucker: A Sensitive Person, Yale University Press

Novellas

Výlet k nádražní hale
/ English translation Alex Zucker: ''A Trip to the Train Station''

Short stories

Zlatá hlava Supermarket sovětských hrdinů , full text

Plays

  • ''Cesta do Bugulmy''

Literary reports


/ English translation Anthony Bartos: ''''

Translations

Trnová dívka
/ A collection of Native American legends and myths, selected and translated into Czech from English by Topol

Song lyrics

  • Psí vojáci: Sestra: Jáchym Topol & Psí Vojáci
  • Monika Načeva: Možnosti tu sou
  • Monika Načeva: Nebe je rudý
  • Monika Načeva: ''Mimoid''

Films

Anděl Exit, directed by Vladimír Michálek; screenplay by Vladimír Michálek and Jáchym Topol.Sestra, directed by Vít Pancíř; screenplay by Vít Pancíř based on the novel by Jáchym Topol; music by Psí vojáci.
  • Citlivý člověk, directed by Tomáš Klein

Other

Nemůžu se zastavit
/ A book-length interview with Topol by Tomáš Weiss

Awards and honors