Martin M. Šimečka

Martin M. Šimecka (1957) is a Slovak author and journalist, editor-in-chief of Respekt, a Czech intellectual weekly. He lives in Prague and Bratislava. He belongs to the few Slovak authors who had published in the samizdat literature during communism. Šimecka’’s novel The Year of the Frog has been translated to English and French. In 1990 he founded and led an independent publishing house Archa. He later became editor-in-chief of Domino-forum, a Slovak weekly. In 1997 – 2006, he acted as editor-in-chief of SME, the country’’s leading daily newspape in English, before taking up his current position at Respekt.

My Father’s Generation

Martin M. Šimečka

In the storm unleashed by the article Denounced by Milan Kundera published by Respekt, one voice that sounded loudest and clearest. It was the voice of Czech writers and intellectuals born around 1930, my father’s generation. They share a common history and have exerted an influence over Czech society that is completely unprecedented in Central Europe. They have also exerted a decisive influence over my own thinking – and through my father, also over my life. Today, to my great surprise, I find myself embroiled in a row with this generation, which is something I have never thought possible. Among […]

Generace mého otce / Esej

Martin M. Šimečka

V bouři hlasů, která se zvedla po zveřejnění článku Udání Milana Kundery v týdeníku Respekt, zněl jeden hlas zřetelněji než jiné. Byl to hlas české generace spisovatelů a intelektuálů s ročníkem narození těsně kolem roku 1930, do níž patřil také můj otec. V bouři hlasů, která se zvedla po zveřejnění článku Udání Milana Kundery v týdeníku Respekt, zněl jeden hlas zřetelněji než jiné. Byl to hlas české generace spisovatelů a intelektuálů s ročníkem narození těsně kolem roku 1930, do níž patřil také můj otec. Pojí ji společný osud a velký vliv na českou společnost, ve střední Evropě naprosto výjimečný. Zásadním […]

The Owner of the Key

Martin M. Šimečka

Kundera’’s misdeed of half a century ago that cruelly marred the lives of several people will have an impact on the interpretation of his oeuvre That record of an act of denunciation contained in a police report lay hidden for over fifty years in heaps of files. Found by chance, it has enabled us to uncover a story dating back to 1950, in which the destinies of two young people of the same generation crossed just once. One of them went to jail for many years while the other went on to become a world-famous author. In 1949 Miroslav Dvořáček […]

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