Ljubljana/Prague, Sept 6 (CTK) – Czech writer Jachym Topol, 53, was presented with the Vilenica Prize that the Slovenian Writers’ Association bestowed on him for outstanding literature and essay writing in Central Europe, the Slovenian news agency STA reported yesterday.
Topol took over the prize, which carries 10,000 euros, in the Vilenica cave after which is is called at the end of the 30th six-day Vilenica International Literary Festival.
Three of Topol’s novels, “Sister,” “Angel” and “Through a Chilly Land” have been translated into Slovenian, STA said.
Topol could only publish his works in samizdat until the fall of the communist regime in end-1989. He is a son of playwright and poet Josef Topol. He was active in underground, wrote musical lyrics and poetry.
He gained fame with his first novel Sister of 1994, in which he painted a picture of the state of society after the fall of the previous regime.
Topol was also editor-in-chief of the cultural magazine Revolver Revue, distributed illegally until 1989, and an editor of the weekly Respekt and daily Lidove noviny. Now, he is the programme director of the Vaclav Havel Library.
