Jaroslav Olsa Jr. will discuss the life and work of Miles J. Breuer (1889 –1945), a Czech-American writer who stood at the birth of science fiction literature in the USA.
When the American editor Hugo Gernsback started in 1926 the first science fiction monthly magazine, Amazing Stories, he was soon faced with a shortage of authors. In 1927, a new contributor, Miles J. Breuer, a physician of Czech origin in Nebraska, joined the magazine with his story "The Man with the Strange Head." Later, Breuer published two novels, thirty-six shorter stories, and several other items for science fiction magazines.
While Miles J. Breuer made a mark in US science fiction, his Czech alter ego, Miloslav J. Breuer, was only discovered in 2020. Until recently, experts thought Breuere was a literary newcomer at that time. But Mr. Olsa’s recent research discovered that Breuer was a prolific writer since 1909 and numerous Czech-American publications published his stories written originally in Czech.
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About
JAROSLAV OLSA, JR. is a Czech career diplomat with more than 30 years of experience, including posts as Ambassador to Zimbabwe (2000-2006), South Korea (2008-2014), and the Philippines (2014-2018). Since 2020, he has served as Consul General in Los Angeles. Mr. OlSa is also a writer with a passion for science fiction. He published many articles and edited over a dozen Czech and international science fiction anthologies. He also authored books on culture and the relations between the Czech Lands, Asia, and Africa. His most recent books are Czech Painters of California (2023) and Miloslav (Miles) J. Breuer: Česko-americký spisovatel u zrodu moderní science fiction (2023).
This event is organized by the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences (SVU), New York Chapter, with the support of the Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association.