Today’s edition of our series The Czech Books You Must Read marks 11 years since the death of the novelist and translator Jan Balabán, who is considered one of the best writers of the post-1989 period. His most highly acclaimed work, a collection of short stories called Maybe We’re Leaving from 2004, was named Book of the Decade in the Magnesia Litera competition. His last novel Ask Dad, finished shortly before his untimely death in 2010, won Book of the Year in the same competition.
Source: Glagoslav Publications
Jan Balabán’s work amounts to three novels and numerous short stories and so far, only two of his books have been translated into English. One of them is Maybe We’re leaving, released by Glagoslav Publications in 2018 in a translation by Charles S. Kraszewski. Last year, they also published his translation of Balabán’s novel Where Was the Angel Going?
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