Hana Andronikova
(1967)
Novelist, author of one novel and a collection of short stories
A bright new star in the Czech literary firmament. Her first novel received many awards and reactions to its foreign editions are also more than promising. The second book confirmed her prominent position among the big names of contemporary Czech prose.
Author of books of brilliantly elaborate composition which demonstrate remarkable use of language.
Bibliography:
Zvuk slunečních hodin (The Sound of the Sundial, novel, 2001)
Mature, readable and at the same time cultivated first work by this female author, which combines convincingly several totally different environments, time plans and genres. In her company, we look back to the early 1920’s in Bata’s town of Zlín, 1930’s India, a Nazi concentration camp, and also take a view of contemporary America. The story begins with the accidental meeting in Colorado of two Czech emigrants whose lives have once crossed in the past. The short scenes and complex passages reveal a stirring story, at the centre of which is a fatal romance between the engineer Tomáš Keppler and a Jewish girl called Rachel, seen through the eyes of their son Daniel.
Awards:
Literary award of the Knižní klub publishing house, 2001; Magnesia Litera award in the Discovery of the Year category, 2002
Foreign editions:
Ulpius Ház, Hungary
Logvinov, Belarus
Rights sold to:
SemaRSh, Bulgaria
Review:
“Andronikova uses masterfully all the formal features of modern storytelling, like the alternation of narrators, leaps in time, diary passages, newspaper cut-outs and letters. In a dense story like this, these techniques do not appear as an end in themselves nor are they overused or thematised, which is a common complaint in respect of many contemporary novels; the techniques are simply the means used for the construction of the text, helping to create colourful, changing and also solid bases for the action of the novel as a whole. The book is full of action, but Andronikova uses very poetic language that is almost lyrical.” (Kateřina Ondřejová, Lidové noviny)
Srdce na udici (Heart on a Fish-hook, short stories, 2002)
This is a collection of eight short stories from the present and recent past, stories about the search for words and directions, stories that are full of both action and atmosphere. They reveal the peculiar worlds of male and female storytellers, both young and ageing. The stories influence and supplement each other and together they create an image of time by picturing various human fates and relationships.
Review:
“Her second book confirms the arrival of a storyteller who is able to understand the complexity of the world and the human soul and describe them with ease and grace. Her understanding of many generations can help her when bringing evidence of her own.” (František Cinger, Právo)
Presentations abroad:
Vilenica, Slovenia, 2003
Bratislava, Slovakia, 2003
Leipzig, Germany, 2004
Budapest, Hungary, 2005
Notes:
A substantial part of the book The Sound of the Sundial has been translated into English, the text can be obtained from the Petrov publishing house upon request. Excerpts from the novel have also been translated into German (by Marcela Euler), Slovenian (by Nives Vidrih) and Polish (by Igor Kedzierski).
Zvuk slunečních hodin / The Sound of the Sundial
Srdce na udici / Heart on the Hook
