Michal Hvorecký: The Rebirth of Literary Fiction
– Slovakia
He was born in 1976 in Bratislava. He studied aesthetics at the Faculty of Arts at the University of Constantine the Philosopher in Nitra. Between 2000 to 2003, he co-organized the Wilsonic Music Festival. Translations of his books have been published in Germany, Italy, Poland and the Czech Republic. He works at the Goethe Institute. He also writes for children and translates from German. He lives with his family in Bratislava. He received several literary awards and author scholarships for his texts (e.g. MuseumsQuartier in Vienna, Literarisches Colloquium in Berlin, or Goethe Institute in Munich, International Writing Program in the USA). He is the author of almost twenty novels, collections of short stories, children’s books and translations. The adaptation of the novel Plyš [Plush] was presented by the Na Zábradlí Theater in Prague, the Aréna Theater in Bratislava and the Schauspielhaus Hannover. In his latest book Čierny lev [The Black Lion], he returns to writing short stories after years. He has returned to literary fiction and responds to new challenges such as global migration, the climate crisis, right-wing populism and religious fanaticism. Belugas come to life in the Danube. In an alternative history, we have been occupied by the Americans. Drones follow every step. Eleven stories do not lack tension, irony and humor.