In this talk, translator and promoter of Slovak literature Julia Sherwood will consider how the Shoah was reflected in the work of Slovak writers in the immediate aftermath of World War II, who had direct experience of, or witnessed, the events, comparing their perception and treatment of the topic with that of authors who came to the fore after the end of communism.
The main focus will be on works of fiction, fictionalized biographies and plays for the theater, by a range of writers including Leopold Lahola, Rudolf Jasik, Ladislav Grosman and Alfred Wetzler, and from the younger generation Silvester Lavrik, Veronika Homolova Tothova, Viliam Klimacek, Jana Juranova and Luba Lesna. Julia Sherwood will examine the varied ways in which these authors have dealt with the painful legacy of the past within the overall context of postwar, communist Czechoslovakia, and present-day Slovakia.
Free and open to the public. Seats limited, on first-come first-served basis. RSVP through Eventbrite is required. Suggested donation $10. Wearing of a face mask during the event is required.
About
Julia Sherwood (née Kalinová) was born and grew up in Bratislava. After her forced emigration in 1978 she studied English and Slavonic languages and literature at universities in Cologne and Munich, and then London, where she now lives. For over 20 years she worked for Amnesty International, traveling widely in Eastern and Central Europe and the former USSR following the changes in 1989. From 2008 to 2014, while living in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where her husband, Peter Sherwood, was a professor at UNC, she took up literary translation from and into Slovak, Czech, Polish, Russian and English. Her main focus is on translating – jointly with Peter – and promoting Slovak literature in the English-speaking world.
Since 2013 she has served as editor-at-large for Asymptote, an online journal for literary translation, regularly reporting on the literary scene in Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland. She administers the Facebook group Slovak Literature in English Translation and jointly with fellow translator Magdalena Mullek curates the website slovakliterature.com, launched in 2019 as part of Raising the Velvet Curtain, a series of events she organized to promote Slovak literature and culture in the UK. In 2019 she was awarded the Pavol Orszagh Hviezdoslav prize for translating and promoting Slovak literature in the English-speaking world. Julia’s most recent book-length translations from the Slovak are But Crime Does Punish by Jan Johanides and Mothers and Truckers by Ivana Dobrakovova, both published in June 2022.
This event is organized by the Society for the History of Czechoslovak Jews, with support of the Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association and the Consulate General of the Slovak Republic.