News - Dana Blatná Literary Agency

Host Foreign Rights Catalogue 2018

There are thirteen new titles presented in the Host Publishers Foreign Rights Catalogue this year. Most of the books are fiction for adults as usual, but there are fantasy novels too.

A new bestselling Czech author is born, having published her debut work at the age of fifty.

An exceptional phenomenon has emerged in Czech literature, as amply testified by the reaction of fans and literary critics alike and the number of copies sold. A few years ago, Alena Mornštajnová took a big gamble: she quit her job to focus on her writing.

Burying the Season by Antonín Bajaja shortlisted for the Angelus Central European Award 2018

The Angelus Central European Literature Award / Literacka Nagroda Europy Środkowej Angelus is the most important Polish prize in the field of creative prose written by Central European writers and published in Poland.

Dousková and Viewegh bestsellers now out in English

Irena Dousková and Michal Viewegh rank among the most successful contemporary Czech authors, and it is not just at home that they’ve been doing very nicely. Their books have also been published in translation, with Michal Viewegh’s in twenty-four languages and Irena Dousková’s in eleven.

Award for Italian edition of Kateřina Tučková’s Goddesses of Žítková

Kateřina Tučková has received another award, this time for the Italian edition of Žítkovské bohyně / The Goddesses of Žítková, her biggest bestseller so far. The prize in question is Premio Salerno Libro d’Europa, awarded each year to three European writers under forty who have had a book translated into Italian.

New editions published abroad – 2018

One of the most popular pages on the agency’s site concerns surveys of new editions of our works in translation. In which countries have our authors just gained new readers? Which publishers and translators deserve our gratitude for this?

Rights sales in 2018

As things stand, this year looks like being the best in the agency’s history. Although we are wary of counting our chickens before they hatch, the list below, of rights sales since the beginning of 2018, gives us a very clear message.

Six books by our authors longlisted for Czech Book Award

A longlist of 14 contenders for this year’s (seventh) Czech Book Award has been announced. Six books by authors from our agency are on that list.

Golden Ribbon awards shortlist announced in March

The Czech Section of IBBY’s Golden Ribbon awards will this year be conferred for the 26th time. The shortlisted books include Petra Soukupová’s latest children’s book.

Shortlist for Magnesia Litera announced. Four of our authors feature.

On Tuesday, 6 March, the organizers of the keenly followed and widely publicized Magnesia Litera awards announced the shortlisted titles in each category. We are delighted to report that a single author has made the shortlist with two titles for the first time in the history of the awards.

The Expulsion of Gerta Schnirch in German at last, plus other forthcoming projects

A total of sixteen books by authors represented by this agency have been chosen for financial support following the second round of applications for the publication of books by Czech authors in translation (deadline November 2017, results announced March 2018).

Jiří Kratochvil in The Café Irreal

English-speaking fans of the work of Jiří Kratochvil will find a brand-new translation of his story ‘Šlépěj 3’/ ‘Footprint III’ in the latest edition of the online magazine The Café Irreal.

Michal Ajvaz and Jiří Hájíček to attend Leipzig Book Fair

Notwithstanding the fact that the Czech Republic will be guest of honour at the 2019 Leipzig Book Fair, leading Czech authors will attend this year’s event, too. The 2018 ‘Leipzig liest’ programme will include several appearances by Michal Ajvaz and Jiří Hájíček.

Michal Ajvaz on his way to USA

Michal Ajvaz’s books have been published in seventeen languages. His English-language publisher Dalkey Archive Press has so far published three novels (The Other City / Druhé město, The Golden Age / Zlatý věk and Empty Streets / Prázdné ulice). A fourth book, Journey to the South / Cesta na jih, is in preparation.

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