Radka Denemarková: What's in the air
– Czechia
Radka Denemarková has published numerous novels and is one of the most translated Czech writers; her books have been translated into twenty-five languages. In her works she deals with the crisis of European values and the heritage of totalitarian systems, she also examines various forms of power relationships.
Denemarková is the only Czech author to receive the Magnesia Litera award in four different categories. She has also received many prestigious foreign awards, such as Georg Dehio Book Prize in 2012, Brücke Berlin Preis in 2022 and European Tolerance Prize for Democracy and Human Rights in 2024. She was also the first Czech author to receive the renewed Austrian Franz Kafka Prize. In 2024 Denemarková was accepted into the German Academy for Language and Literature. In 2024 she has also received the Medal of Merit of the 1st degree from the Czech President for her contributions to the culture and arts. Her works include Peníze od Hitlera (Money from Hitler, 2006), Kobold (Kobold: An Abundance of Tenderness & an Abundance of People, 2011), Příspěvek k dějinám radosti (A Contribution to the History of Joy, 2014), Hodiny z olova (Hours of Lead, 2018) a Čokoládová krev (Chocolate Blood, 2023), which has been translated into eighteen languages.
“Literature has only one task: to not to be afraid and not to lie. For me, literature is a part of life, a sum of all forms of courage, art, friendship and thinking, which allow human beings not to be slaves. The purest form of loving life.”