Actualities

The presentation of the book, which the poet and translator Marián Šidlík had published under the title “Just to Live Here” by the Pectus publishing house, took place in the Quo Vadis house in the centre of Bratislava. This is his fifth collection of verses. The radio announcer with many years of experience took a timeless attitude to the whole event; he perceived it as a special meeting with the word. The event was presented by a young musician and singer Kristína Prekopová who devotes herself to TV presentations, dubbing, audiobook recordings and occasionally to dramatic art. She writes and sings her own songs, especially chanson and jazz. She played and sang her three songs on a piano from her most recent album “The Dawn”. The interview with the author of the collection took place in an intimate atmosphere. The audience had a chance to learn something about his birthplace, old-time Trnava and about what moulded the author artistically and when he started out...

The jury appointed by the Committee for the area of literary translation of the Literary Fund evaluated year-long production in the area of literary translation in 2016. Based on its proposal, translated literary works of a high artistic value were short-listed and the Committee awarded Ján Hollý’s prize and book gifts of the Literary Fund for literary translation. Individual editorial activities were appreciated, too.

The presentation of the anthology “Night Singing of the Sardine in a Tin” took place on March 15, 2017 in 33 Panenská street in Bratislava. The compilation book of nonsense poetry from the German language environment was presented by the editor and translator Marián Hatala and illustrator Martin Burian.

It’s not usual to bring to life a novella on a day when its already dead author would have celebrated her 126th birthday in the family circle. Despite the cold weather which accompanied December 8, there were people interested not only in a new, richly illustrated book, but also in those who contributed to making it possible. Ľudovít Petraško and Anton Medvec symbolically laid a wreath on o memorial plaque on a house where the writer was born.

Quality literature lovers have been waiting for almost four years for the revival of the international literary festival taking place in Eastern Slovakia called Litteriada. Finally, the time of the 4th festival came. There were presented less known authors with literary works that were not aesthetically worth noticing.
Students of a grammar school welcomed the Polish poets Marek Petrykowski from Krosno and Stefan Jurkowski from Warsaw on the 28th of September. They were ceremonially introduced by Kamil Benko, the presenter of the event and director of the Podduklianska Library in Svidník. The authors spoke about their literary beginnings and creative path, answered the questions about their profession, sources of inspiration and both positive and negative aspects of their works. The youth took an avid interest in the authors’ student life represented by various jokes. Their poems recited in the Slovak translation were a tremendous success among the people that they asked for original recital in the native language. At the end of the session the authors were signing the anthology published especially on this occasion.

The book Without a Space Bar by Zdenko Fajčák, a young author living in Prague, was released with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the SR in the publishing house Pectus towards the end of the last year. It is a collection of short stories with protagonists who find themselves in manifold situations. The stories often close with a surprising turn. The festive presentation of the author’s début took place on February 9, 2016 on the premises of the Slovak House in Prague under the auspices of Vladimír Skalský, Chair of the Slovak World Association abroad.

We are delighted that another work of art from our publishing house has been released in a prestigious Polish publishing house Abilion which prefers valuable to simplistic, ordinary or fashionable literature. This is the case of a collection of legends entitled The Seaguard by Ľudovít Petraško. The author reached out to East-Slovak legends from Šariš, Abov and Zemplín in order to approximate them to a contemporary reader in his own version. Despite the fact that the book is suitable for especially the youth, legends show distinctive features of literature for adults. Without these features there is no fairy tale, either.

The historical novel "With Perun on a Shield" by Mária Kočanová and the stories "Seaguard" penned by Ľudovít Petraško were presented not only in P. O. Hviezdoslav’s Library in Prešov, but also in Ľubotice on the same day (07/11/2014 at 4 pm) where the event took place under the auspices of the mayor Krajči.

When there is an apparition of a woman in front of a poet, let’s say in things which she used to touch, such an illusion does not have to be accompanied by a consciousness of reality. Precisely the title of the collection "You can only stay like this" concurs with the need to dream, but at the same time it implies that a real departure has become a permanent one and consolation takes place only at a mental level. "Metaphysics" in this poetry, seeing the other behind things, gives mostly an impression that there is still something left.

The year 2013 became symbolic for Hudák, as if in accordance with the taste of his poetry. Not only did Pectus publish the second, up-dated edition of his life-long poetic oeuvre entitled "A Rope in the Hangman’s House and Other Poems" but it was at the same time released in Polish in translation by Marta Pelinko due to the collaboration of the Polish Publisher Abilion with the Literary Information Centre.