Freshly Discovered Zábrana

Forty years ago, in September 1984, one of the most important post-war Czech translators, Jan Zábrana – who was also an outstanding poet, prose writer, essayist and editor, and a friend of Václav Havel’s since the first half of the 1950s – died at the age of 53. On this occasion, his new book EXCERPCE (EXTRACTS) is being published by Torst and will be presented during this evening. Two people who knew Jan Zábrana personally and edited his books with him at the Odeon publishing house will discuss the writer: Professor Jiří Pelán and Jan Zelenka, an editor of Anglo-American literature. Professor Jiří Trávníček from Brno, who has edited three of Zábrana’s books, will speak about his place in Czech culture in the second half of the 20th century. The evening will be hosted by Jan Šulc, who has edited the new Zábrana work.