Michal Viewegh: Suniski pasakainie gadi

Translation: Jānis Krastiņš, Nakladatelství Mansards

Michal Viewegh was born on the 31st of March 1962 in Prague. He has written social novels and burlesque novels implementing the postmodern aspects in his work. He studied Czech and pedagogy at the Philosophical Faculty of the Charles University, Prague, and has been a free-lance writer since 1995.
The main programme of the evening will be the reading of the translation of a novel by M. Viewegh

Báječná léta pod psa (The Wonderful Years of Lousy Living; Latvian translation: Suniski pasakainie gadi). The Mansards Publishers have already published Czech works (Saturnin by Z. Jirotka) and, in the words of its director, Viewegh’s novel is not be the last Czech book published by Mansards. The founder and chairmen of many years of the Latvia-Czech Society and translator Jānis Krastiņš is ‘responsible’ for more than ten translations of Czech literature works, both novels as well as factual literature (for instance: Saturnin, Kateřina Zaháňská, Kronika života a vlády Karla IV., Černí baroni, Ostře sledované vlaky etc.). He was awarded Artis Bohemiae Amicis Price from the Czech Ministry of Culture for spreading the good name of the Czech culture and for his translating work in 2007. Other presented authors will include: Z. Jirotka, O. Pavel, V. Havel, B. Hrabal – extracts from the Latvian translations will be read by students of the Theatre Faculty of the Latvian Culture Academy.