Petr Král
Petr Král was a Czech writer, initially influenced by surrealism.
Král was born in Prague. Having graduated from FAMU, he worked as an editor in the Orbis publishing house, where he focused on a line of books about film and filmmakers. In 1968, he immigrated to France where he worked in a gallery, a photo shop, as a teacher, interpreter, translator, screenplay author, reviewer and so on. In 1984 he lived in Québec. From 1990 to 1991 he was a cultural counsellor at the Czech embassy in Paris. He translated from and into French. He edited several anthologies. Since April 2006, he resided in Prague.
Petr Král started writing under the influence of surrealism, but from the 1970s, his books revealed that he felt a lack of fulfilment from the surrealist method. He wrote about eternal longing which is being nourished by itself, and perhaps leads to consuming the person who yearns. Král's emblematic words can be: "We don't die, it's much worse: we vanish. In other words, we never were. There is no reality."Vlasta Burian, 1969Prázdno světa, 1986Svědek stmívání, 1987Éra živých, 1989P. S. čili Cesty do ráje, 1990Právo na šedivou, 1991Pocit předsálí v aixské kavárně, 1991Med zatáček čili Dovětek k dějinám, 1992Voskovec a Werich čili Hvězdy klobouky, 1993Tyršovské přeháňky, 1994Fotografie v surrealismu, 1994Arsenál, 1994Soukromý život, 1996Pařížské sešity, 1996Mramor se jí studený, 1996Staronový kontinent, 1997Chiméry a exil, 1998Groteska čili Morálka šlehačkového dortu, 1998Aimer Venise, 1999Praha, 2000Pro anděla, 2000Základní pojmy, 2002Anthologie de la poésie tchèque contemporaine, 2002 Bar Příroda čili Budoucnost 5 km, 2004Masiv a trhliny, 2004Přesuny, 2005Arco a jiné prózy, 2005Hm čili Míra omylu, 2006Úniky a návraty, 2006Notions de base, 2005 Enquête sur des lieux, 2007 Hum ou Marge d'erreur, 2007
English translations
Working Knowledge, translated by Frank Wynne, Pushkin Press, 2008Loving Venice, translated by Christopher Moncrieff, Pushkin Press, 2011In Search of the Essence of Place, translated by Christopher Moncrieff, Pushkin Press, 2012