Pavol Hudák, our colleague and friend, passed away on Tuesday, January 18th. He left us suddenly, unexpectedly and forever. Pavol Hudák was a poet who didn’t forget that beauty lies in simplicity. Although he was unnoticed by the official literary circles, for many of us he will remain the most original and the most remarkable phenomenon of Slovak poetry at the turn of the centuries. As one of the few, he was creating in such a way as he lived. It has never been possible to separate his literary production from everything he was experiencing, from the way by which he evaluated the world. He was a man who didn’t lack mainly humanity. Heart of this poet and indescribable charm in his verses are one and the same even though poetry doesn’t have to lose a feature of universality. Therefore, Hudák’s poems will be always speaking to new generations.
In 2011, author was supposed to attend a literary tour in Polish libraries with a choice opus Rope in the House of a Hanged Man which is now translated into Polish. Although we will miss his presence at the presentations of a book translation, we are convinced that we can’t give up the promotion of this outstanding personality abroad. Work, in which Pavol Hudák still lives with us, simply deserves it. Life has to go on; the author would certainly wish it, as though according to a short story by Anthony de Mello about Master playing cards with students next to the fire. When Master asked what they would do if he died in that moment, students were silent. One of them dared to ask: "Master and what we are supposed to do?" And he answered: "Remove the body and continue playing." Dear friend, you are certainly smiling from above, just as Pavol Suržin.