LOUIS ARMAND

Louis Armand is a Sydney-born writer who has lived in Prague since 1994. He is the author of eight novels, including Breakfast at Midnight (2012), described by 3AMmagazine’s Richard Marshall as “a perfect modern noir,” and Cairo, shortlisted for theGuardian newspaper’s 2014 Not-the-Booker Prize (both from Equus, London). His most recent collections of poetry are Indirect Objects (Vagabond, 2014) and Synopticon(with John Kinsella; LPB, 2012). His work has been included in the Penguin Anthology of Australian Poetry and Best Australian Poems. His screenplay, Clair Obscur, received honourable mention at the 2009 Trieste International Film Festival. He directs the Centre for Critical and Cultural Theory in the Philosophy Faculty of Charles University where he also edits the international arts magazine VLAK.

Louis Armand je autorem šesti románů, mezi nimi neo-noirové Snídaně o půlnoci (2012; Richard Marshall z časopisu 3AM román označil za “dokonalý moderní noir”) a Cairo(2014; nominován na cenu Not the Booker Prizelistu Guardian). Jeho poslední dvě básnické sbírky jsou Indirect Objects (Vagabond, 2014) aSynopticon (s Johnem Kinsellou; LPB, 2012). Je redaktorem časopisu VLAK.

www.louis-armand.com

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THOR GARCIA

Thor Garcia was born in Long Beach, California, and worked as a journalist in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York, among other places, before moving to Prague, Czech Republic. His published books include THE NEWS CLOWN: A NOVEL (Equus Press) and the short story collections ONLY FOOLS DIE OF HEARTBREAK (Equus Press) and TUND (Litteraria Pragensia) His stories have appeared in The Drill Press, Dogmatika, Paris Lit Up magazine, Akashic Books’ Mondays Are Murder Series, The Next Best Book blog and VLAK, among others.

Thor Garcia se narodil v Long Beach v Kalifornii, pracoval jako novinář například v Los Angeles, San Francisku a New Yorku, poté se přestěhoval do Prahy. Vydal román THE NEWS CLOWN: A NOVEL (Equus Press) a sbírky povídek ONLY FOOLS DIE OF HEARTBREAK (Equus Press) a TUND (Litteraria Pragensia). Publikoval povídky u The Drill Press, v časopise Dogmatika, v revue Paris Lit Up, v edici Mondays Are Murder nakladatelství Akashic Books, na blogu The Next Best Book, v časopise VLAK aj.

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LOU ROWAN

Lou Rowan’s books include Love’s, poetry, 2016; The Alphabet of Love Serial, stories, 2015; My Last Days, Superman’s autobiography, 2007; Sweet Potatoes, stories, 2008; and A Mystery’s no Problem, novel, forthcoming 2016. A native of Southern California, he received most of his formal education in the Atlantic states. Living in and around New York City, he earned his living as a teacher, and as an institutional investor. The early onslaught of the derivatives “revolution” drove him to Washington State, to a then-stable pension investment firm, and in 2003 he forwent finance to write full-time. The same year marked the advent of Golden Handcuffs Review, which he continues to edit. His informal education began in the Lower East Side of “The City,” when the artistic experiments in and around St. Mark’s Church in the Bowery flourished. He is eternally grateful to the English Department at Harvard University for making the formal study of academic literature repugnant to him.

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MARKETA BANKOVA

Marketa Bankova was born and lives in Prague. She graduated from Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, but she is involved in literature, science, design and new media as well. She is known as a pioneer net art, having created, for instance New York City Map (nycmap.com). In 2010 Marketa Bankova has written and illustrated a book The Magpie in the Realm of Entropy. It is a book of fables for adults and children. The Magpie in the Realm of Entropy became a bestseller in the Czech Republic and was awarded Magnesia Litera’s “Discovery of the Year” prize. On Friday she is going to present from her new book Maličkost, which is among the three finalist for Česká kniha award.

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PHIL SHOENFELT

Phil Shoenfelt is an English musician, poet and novelist who has lived in Prague since He is a veteran of the UK and New York punk and post-punk scenes, and during the early 1980’s was frontman for the New York band Khmer Rouge. To date he has had a total of 15 CDs released on various independent record labels, as well as several Eps and singles. In addition to his music, Phil has had four books published: Junkie Love; The Green Hotel;Stripped – Book One; and Magdalena – Books One & Two (a collaboration with Kateřina Piňosová). Junkie Love was first published in Czech translation asFeťácká Láska, and has become something of a cult book for Czech readers. The book was published for the first time in English by Twisted Spoon Press, and went on to win a Firecracker Alternative Book Award (NYC, 2002). At present, Phil is working on a trilogy of books called Stripped, set in late 70s/early 80s New York. Stripped is set against a backdrop of rock clubs like CBGBs, and the violent, drug-infested streets of Alphabet City, where the narrator lives with his striptease dancer wife. Sucked into a maelstrom of sex, heroin and bad behaviour, he questions everything and ends up believing in nothing. It’s a long way down to the bottom, and many bizarre and magical things happen en route. Phil’s writing has also appeared in publications and collections such as Gargoyle, Prague Literary Review, The Return of Král Majáles,Optimism, Hele, Blatt, The Outlaw Poetry Network, From A Terrace In Prague, Erotika – Drogen und Sexualita, Apple Of The

Phil Shoenfelt je britský hudebník, básník a romanopisec, který od roku 1995 žije v Praze. Je veteránem britské a newyorské punkové a post-punkové scény a na počátku 80. let byl frontmanem newyorské kapely Khmer Rouge. K dnešnímu datu mu vyšlo celkem 15 CD u různých nezávislých nahrávacích labelů, stejně jako několik EP desek a singlů. Mimo svou hudební tvorbu Phil publikoval také čtyři knihy: Junkie Love;The Green Hotel; Stripped – Book One; aMagdalena – Books One & Two (ve spolupráci s Kateřinou Piňosovou). Junkie Love nejprve vyšla v českém překladu jako Feťácká láska a mezi českými čtenáři se stala jakousi kultovní knihou. V angličtině poprvé vyšla v nakladatelství Twisted Spoon Press a záhy se dočkala ocenění Firecracker Alternative Book Award (New York, 2002). V současnosti Phil pracuje na knižní trilogii s názvem Stripped, zasazené do New Yorku konce 70. a začátku 80. let.Stripped se odehrává na pozadí rockových klubů jako CBGBs a v násilím a drogami zamořených ulicích Alphabet City, kde vypravěč žije se svou manželkou, striptýzovou tanečnicí. Vtahovaný maelstromem sexu, heroinu a zkaženého jednání, vypravěč pochybuje o všem a nakonec neuvěří ničemu. Je to dlouhá cesta až na samé dno, během níž se přihodí mnoho bizarních a magických událostí. Philova tvorba se také objevila v periodicích a antologiích jako je Gargoyle, Prague Literary Review, The Return of Král Majáles, Optimism,Hele, Blatt, The Outlaw Poetry Network, From A Terrace In Prague, Erotika – Drogen und Sexualita, Apple Of The Eye, Morgana, Vlna a Vlak.

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KATJA GOREČAN

Katja Gorecan, born in 1989 in Celje. At the age of 17, she published her first collection of poems called Angeli istega porekla (Angels of the Same Origin). In 2011, she had her first exhibition of paintings Mačje leto (Cat year) at France Prešeren Cultural and Arts Centre in Ljubljana. In 2012, her autographic collection of poems Trpljenje mlade Hane (The Sorrows of Young Hana) was published, which was chosen to participate at the 15th Biennial of Young Artists in Rome and was nominated for Jenkova award by the Slovene PEN organization. Katja participated in a Couch surfing project at Dutch Design Week 2012 in Eindhoven (The Netherlands) among 120 artists from all over the world. Later that year, in July, she did her own wall painting in the Hansa surf hostel in Hikkaduwa (Sri Lanka). In December 2012, she prepaired another painting exhibition Around the World I Go in Narrenschloss children's theatre in Vienna, Austria. She is translated into several European languages.

katjagorecan.carbonmade.com

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ANDREJ HOČEVAR

Andrej Hočevar was born in 1980, he is a poet, critic and editor. As a member of the editorial board at LUD Literatura he is the main editor of the literary series Prišleki. After having been the review editor at the magazine Literatura, he became the editor in chief of the online magazine www.ludliteratura.si. He is also the author of five poetry collections. The first, Vračanja (2002) was nominated as the best newcomer. It was followed by Ribe in obzornice (2005), Pesmi o koscih in podobnostih (2007) and Privajanje na svetlobo (2009). His most recent book was published in 2011 and is titled Leto brez idej, this year he will publish his first prose work. His works, translated into different languages, have appeared in various magazines and anthologies and Hočevar was a guest at many literary festivals across Europe. In Italian, his poems have been, along different magazines, published in the anthology Dieci poeti sloveni contemporanei. Besides poetry, Hočevar also writes reviews and essays (mostly about poetry). He quit playing in a rock band some time ago, though he sometimes combines poetry with music, mostly of an improvised nature.

poem #1
poem #2

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GREGOR PODLOGAR

Gregor Podlogar was born in Ljubljana in 1974 and graduated with a degree in philosophy from the University of Ljubljana. He writes literary criticism and book reviews for Slovenian National Radio, the daily newspaper Večer, and the Literatura literary journal, among others. He has published his poems in various literary magazines in Slovenia and abroad. Aleph Press published his first two poetry collections, Naselitve (1997), Vrtoglavica zanosa (2002), LUD Literatura published his poetry collection Miljon sekund bližje (2006) and LUD Šerpa his last one Vesela nova ušesa (2010). In co-authorship with the poet Primoz Cucnik and the painter Ziga Kariz, an experimental book on New York entitled Ode on Manhattan Avenue came out with Sherpa Press in Slovenia in 2003. He lives and works in Ljubljana and Vienna. A selection of his poetry was published in Czech in 2005, under the title Závrat extáze.

interview
poem #2

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BORIS A. NOVAK

Boris A. Novak (born in Belgrade in 1953) is a Slovene poet, playwright, translator, and essayist. He is a Professor at the Department for Comparative Literature and Literary Theory at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Ljubljana. Novak was President of the Slovene PEN (1991-1996) and Chair of the Writers for Peace Committee of International PEN (1994-2000). Novak organized humanitarian help for refugees from the former Yugoslavia and writers from Sarajevo which was one of the biggest humanitarian efforts in the history of the world writers’’ organization. From 2002 he served as Vice-president of International PEN. Novak has published more then 55 books, including poetry collections, handbooks of poetic forms and six volumes of poems for children. Novak’s poems have been translated into many languages and Novak translates French, ancient Provencal, as well as American, English, Italian, German, and literature written in Dutch and South Slav languages. At the moment he is publishing his opus magnus the epopee – epos Vrata nepovrata, which all together in three volumes, consist more then 40.000 verses.

poems
wikipedia article

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ALENKA JENSTERLE DOLEŽAL

Alenka Jensterle Doležal was born in 1959 and is a poet and novelist, essayist and literary scientist. She is working at the Charles university. For several years she worked as a teacher of the Slovenian language at various universities around the world (Prague, Krakow, New York and Nottingham), for four years was also a researcher at the Slavic Institute in Prague. She has published three scientific monographies and also scientific articles and discussions in collective monographies, anthologies and journals in the Czech Republic, Slovenia and elsewhere in the world. She has published five poetry collections - Juditin Bridge (1990), Landscapes beginning (1994), Přeludy (1996), Notes SG (2006), Songs in the Snow (2012) - as well as two novels Dark Place (1993) and The Importance house (2015). Translations of her cycles of poems and excerpts from novels have been published in various languages, among others in Czech, Slovak, Croatian, English, Polish and Hungarian.

cv

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MAX HOFLER

Max Höfler, born in 1978, is a Graz, Austria, based author, sound artist, curator and part of the artist association Forum Stadtpark and the international radio art collective radia. He is the founder of the net art project Eigenheimgalerie GG44 and studied German literature, philosophy and history of art and did his doctor degree on Post-Wittgensteinian aesthetics. Max Höfler is writing experimental texts, which are influenced by the avant- garde movements of the early 20th century. For his books he was awarded several prizes and grants. In 2012 he did a 7-hour radio art live show for the Biennale in São Paulo together with the radio art collective radia.

website
chain reaction
Eigenheimgalerie GG44

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MARK O'LEARY

Mark O'Leary is from Ireland and now lives in London. His poetry has been published in VierSomes (Veer Books), The Penny Dreadful and Vantage. A prose chapbook Grimalkin: Or The Apocrypha of Our Most Base and Holy Desires has recently been published by A Firm Nigh Holistic Press.

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SARAH HAYDEN

Sarah Hayden’s poems have been published in the likes of Tripwire, Scree, Steamer, Cutlery Review and datableed. Her chapbooks, System Without Issue (Oystercatcher Press) and Exteroceptive (Wild Honey Press) came out in 2014 and she now needs to make a new one. She lectures in English at the University of Southampton and writes about modernism, poetry and art ​ and​ likes collaborating with visual artists on producing texts for installation or performance ​.​ Her monograph on Mina Loy and artisthood is on the way, and she is right now writing a book, Peter Roehr—Field Pulsations, with Paul Hegarty. She is a co-organizer of the SoundEye Poetry Festival in Cork.

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SEAN BONNEY

Sean Bonney is a contemporary English poet. Bonney was born in Brighton and brought up in the north of England. He now lives in Berlin.

His publications include Notes on Heresy (Writers Forum, 2002), Poisons, their antidotes (West House, 2003), Blade Pitch Control Unit (Salt, 2005), Document: hexprogress (Yt Communication, 2006), Baudelaire in English (Veer 2008), Document: poems, diagrams, manifestos (Barque 2009), and The Commons(Opened 2011). He edits the press Yt Communication with Frances Kruk.

He was a regular attendee at the Cobbing-led Writers Forum workshop. Together with other UK based poets his work marks a progression and continuance of the British Poetry Revival. In Autumn 2006, he was a guest lecturer at the University of Roehampton. In Autumn 2011 he ran a seminar on Poetry and Revolution at the University of Cambridge.

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VINCENT FARNSWORTH

Born in Las Vegas, Vincent Farnsworth first came to Czechia in the mid-1990s, writing poetry and starting the music group BLAQ MUMMY. He was manager editor of the poetry magazine JEJUNE: america eats it young, his work was anthologized in The Return of Kral Majales and his most recent book is Theremin, published by Litteraria Pragensia.

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SOPHIE MALLERET

Sophie Malleret, French New Yorker, has read her poetry in Paris, NY at The Howl Festival, Bowery Poetry Club, Nuyorican Café, New Museum, Reuben Foundation, the NY Library, Art Fairs, Galleries; other venues in the US include the Amherst Library, Woodstock Poetry Festival. She writes in English and in French; translates some of her poems and perform bilingual versions simultaneously with another poet. Developing German/French poetry for a show in Munich. She’s had lead parts in independent films/plays Off-Broadway. Also wrote, directed and produced plays. Lately associate producer on a film in competition this year at South By Southwest (SXSW). Her poetry has been published in Vlak, Maintenent, Art in Odd Places. She’s thrilled to be part of the Prague Microfestival and to see Prague again.

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