Contemporary Slovak literature in German translation

Translators of Slovak literature into German met on 7 and 8 November 2024 at the Slovak Institute in Berlin to present nine books by contemporary Slovak authors to German publishers. On the first day, literary scholars Viliam Nádaskay and Radoslav Passia from Institute of Slovak Literature of the Slovak Academy of Sciences introduced five authors who were present in person: Silvester Lavrík, Tomáš Forró, Jana Bodnárová, Michal Tallo and Soňa Uriková.

They also gave a lecture on trends in contemporary Slovak literature for translators from Slovak into German, as well as guests from the Slovak lectorates at German universities (in Berlin, Regensburg and Cologne).

The translators Eva Profousová, Ines Sebesta, Stefanie Bose, Mirko Kraetsch, Lydia Nagel and Marie-Theres Cermann have translated excerpts from nine Slovak books, which they presented to the German publishers on the second day.

Literary brunch for publishers was rounded off with a lecture of Viliam Nádaskay and Radoslav Passia: What is contemporary Slovak literature aboud and where is it going? A fragmentary probe for the Berlin audience.

“The project aimed to draw the attention of German publishers to contemporary Slovak literary works, which is still published sporadically in Germany. It provided an opportunity for a personal, informal meeting of Slovak authors, translators and German publishers,” said event organizer Renata Deáková from the civic association Mona Sentimental.

It is based on professional cooperation with translators, active participation on the presentation of the books they are working on and for which they are looking for publishers. The purpose of the event was to establish personal contacts not only with German publishers, but also with Czech and Hungarian cultural institutions operating in Germany in the spirit of possible future cooperation within German cultural, especially literary context.

The project was implemented by the civic association Mona Sentimental thanks to the support of the Slovak Arts Council, Slovak Literary Center, Slovak Institute in Berlin, Slovak Embassy in Berlin and Anasoft litera.