Jachym Topol
Jachym Topol with his book Chladnou zemi (September 2010)
Born	( 1962-08-04 ) 4 August 1962 (age 61) Prague
Occupation(s)	Journalist, novelist, poet
Notable work	City Sister Silver
Parent(s)	Josef Topol and Ji?ina Topolova
Relatives	Filip Topol (brother)
Signature

Jachym Topol (born 4 August 1962) 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.

Life [ edit ]

Jachym Topol was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, to Josef Topol , Czech playwright, poet, and translator of Shakespeare , and Ji?ina Topolova, daughter of the famous Czech Catholic writer Karel Schulz .

Topol's writing began with lyrics for the rock band Psi vojaci , 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 Informa?ni servis , which later became the investigative weekly Respekt . He has also worked for the daily Lidove noviny. He currentlz works as program director for the Vaclav Havel Library, in Prague.

Topol has two daughters, Josefina and Marie, with his first wife, and a son, Vojt?ch Elia?, with his second.

Works [ edit ]

Poetry [ edit ]

• Eskymackej pes (Eskimo dog) (samizdat, 1982)
• St?hovava tva? (Migratory face) (samizdat, 1983)
• Noty pro podzimni bytost (Notes for an autumn creature) (samizdat, 1984)
• Miluju t? k zblazn?ni (I love you madly; samizdat, 1988)
  / Topol's first collection of poetry, published in samizdat, received the Tom Stoppard Prize for Unofficial Literature (founded in 1983 by Tom Stoppard and awarded by the Charta 77 Foundation in Stockholm); first non-samizdat edition published by Atlantis in 1990. / translation Анжелина Пенчева (An?elina Pen?eva): Обичам те до лудост , Парадокс, Sofie (2020, Bulgarian)
• V utery bude valka (The war will be on Tuesday; Edice 13x18, 1992)
  / Five poems from this collection were published in Alex Zucker 's translation in the Spring 1994 issue of Trafika: an international literary review . ^[1]
• D?sivy sp?e?eni (Horrifying dog team) (Revolver Revue, 2016) ? selection of poems from three samizdat collections plus the short story Venezuela .
• Udr?uj svou ledni?ku plnou. Pis?ove texty a zhudebn?ne basn? 1979-2021 (Keep your refrigerator full: Song lyrics and poems set to music, 1979-2021) (Torst, 2021)

Novels [ edit ]

• Sestra (Sister; Atlantis, 1994)
  / Received the 1995 Cena Egona Hostovskeho ^[2] (Egon Hostovsky Prize), awarded for a "novel which artistically exceeds the standard production"
  / English translation Alex Zucker : City Sister Silver (Catbird Press, 2000) ^[3]
  / Polish translation Leszek Engelking : Siostra (Wydawnictwo W.A.B., 2002)
  / Also translated into German and Hungarian
• And?l (Angel; Hynek, 1995) ^[4]
  / German translation Peter Sacher: Engel Exit (Volk und Welt, 1997)
  / French translation Marianna Canavaggio: Ange exit (J'ai lu, 2002)
  / Turkish translation Martin Alacam: Andel (Norgunk, 2005)
  / Also translated into Hungarian
• No?ni prace (Nightwork; Hynek, 2001) ^[5]
  / French translation Marianna Canavaggio: Missions nocturnes (Laffont, 2002)
  / Polish translation Leszek Engelking : Nocna praca (Wydawnictwo W.A.B., 2004)
  / English translation Marek Tomin : Nightwork (Portobello Books, 2014)
  / Also translated into Croatian, Dutch, German, Italian, Spanish and Swedish
• Kloktat dehet (Gargling tar; Torst, 2005)
  / French translation Marianna Canavaggio: Zone cirque (Editions Noir Sur Blanc, 2009)
  / Polish translation Leszek Engelking : Strefa cyrkowa (Wydawnictwo W.A.B., 2008)
  / English translation David Short : Gargling with Tar (Portobello Books, 2010) ^[6]
  / Also translated into Dutch, German, Italian, Norwegian.
• Chladnou zemi (Through a chilly land; Torst, 2009)
  / Received the 2010 Cena Jaroslava Seiferta ^[7]
  / Swedish translation Tora Hedin: Kallt land (Ersatz, 2009) ISBN   978-91-88858-95-5
  / Dutch translation Edgar de Bruin: De werkplaats van de duivel (Anthos, 2010)
  / Italian translation Letizia Kostner: L'officina del diavolo (Zandonai, 2012) ISBN   978-88-95538-83-9
  / English translation Alex Zucker : The Devil's Workshop (Portobello Books, 2013)
• Citlivy ?lov?k (A Sensitive Person; Torst, 2017)
  / Received the State Prize for Literature in 2017 for this novel and his life work to date ^[8]
  / Polish translation Dorota Dobrew : Wra?liwy człowiek , wydawnictwo czarne , S?kowa (2019)
  / German translation Eva Profousova : Ein empfindsamer Mensch , Suhrkamp (2019)
  / Italian translation Laura Angeloni : Una persona sensibile , Keller editore , Rovereto (2020)
  / Dutch translation Edgar de Bruin: Een gevoelig iemand , Uitgeverij Voetnoot, Antwerpen (2020, )
  / Macedonian translation Со?а Сто?менска-Елзесер (Sonja Stojmenska-Elzeser): Чувствителен човек , Артконект, Skopje (2020)
  / French translation Marianne Canavaggio : Une personne sensible , Noir sur Blanc Lausanne (2021)
  / Serbian translation Uro? Nikoli?: Osetljivi ?ovek , Heliks, Beograd (2021)
  / Lithuanian translation Vaida Bra?kyte N?me?kova: Jautrus ?mogus , Aukso ?uvys, Vilnius (2021)
  / Croatian translation Mirna Stehlikova đurasek: Osjetljiv ?ovjek , V.B.Z., Zagreb (2022) / Swedish translation Marie Wenger: En Kanslig Sjal , Ramus forlag, Malmo (2022) / English translation Alex Zucker: A Sensitive Person , Yale University Press (2022)

Novellas [ edit ]

• Vylet k nadra?ni hale (Outing to the train station concourse; Edice Slza, 1994, limited edition of 350)
  / English translation Alex Zucker : A Trip to the Train Station (Petrov, 1995; Albatros Plus, 2011; Czech-English bilingual edition)

Short stories [ edit ]

• Zlata hlava (Golden head; Torst, 2005)
• Supermarket sov?tskych hrdin? (Supermarket of Soviet heroes; Torst, 2007)
• Trochu Medu ( A Little Honey ), full text ( The Short Story Project )

Plays [ edit ]

• Cesta do Bugulmy (Road to Bugulma) (Sv?t a divadlo no. 4, 2006)

Productions:

staged reading: Divadlo v Dlouhe Praha, re?ie: Karel Kral , premiera 23. 1. 2007

production: Divadlo Na zabradli Praha, re?ie: Ji?i Pokorny , premiere 15 June 2007

German translation Eva Profousova : Die Reise nach Bugulma , henschel SCHAUSPIEL (2006)

Polish translation Leszek Engelking : Droga do Bugulmy , Dialog no. 11 (2005), wydawnictwo czarne (2006)

Literary reports [ edit ]

• Zabity idol Vaclav ?veda (The murdered idol Vaclav ?veda; Respekt Special IV/2015)
  / English translation Anthony Bartos: Vaclav ?veda, the murdered idol ( cardandcube , 2023)

Translations [ edit ]

• Trnova divka (Thorn girl; Hynek, 1997)
  / A collection of Native American legends and myths, selected and translated into Czech from English by Topol

Song lyrics [ edit ]

• Psi vojaci : Sestra: Jachym Topol & Psi Vojaci (1994) ^[9]
• Monika Na?eva: Mo?nosti tu sou (There are possibilities here; 1994) ^{[10] [11]}
• Monika Na?eva: Nebe je rudy (The sky is red; 1996) ^{[10] [11]}
• Monika Na?eva: Mimoid (Weirdo; 1998) ^{[10] [11]}

Films [ edit ]

• And?l Exit (Angel Exit; 2000), directed by Vladimir Michalek ; screenplay by Vladimir Michalek and Jachym Topol. ^[12]
• Sestra (Sister; 2008), directed by Vit Panci?; screenplay by Vit Panci? based on the novel by Jachym Topol; music by Psi vojaci . ^[13]
• Citlivy ?lov?k (A Sensitive Person, 2023), directed by Toma? Klein

Other [ edit ]

• Nem??u se zastavit (I can't stand still; Portal, 2000)
  / A book-length interview with Topol by Toma? Weiss ^{[14] [15]}

Awards and honors [ edit ]

• 1995 ? Egon Hostovsky Prize for City Sister Silver
• 2010 ? Jaroslav Seifert Prize for The Devil's Workshop
• 2015 ? Vilenica Prize ^[16]
• 2017 ? Czech State Award for Literature for A Sensitive Person and life work to date

References [ edit ]

External links [ edit ]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jachym Topol .

• Jachym Topol at IMDb
• Jachym Topol in Transcript: The European Internet Review of Books and Writing , no. 6: Czech Writing. ^{[ permanent dead link ]}
• Rob Trucks: A conversation with Jachym Topol. Posted 28 July 2005. An interview with Jachym Topol in five parts.
• Jachym Topol in Transcript: The European Internet Review of Books and Writing , no. 22: Identity Revolutions. Archived 20 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine
• Lyndsey Matthews: Journalism or Surrealism? Posted 16 October 2007. Jachym Topol visits a journalism class.
• Blog for City Sister Silver with links to reviews.
• Jachym Topol at Czechoslovak book network Baila.net