On 6 March the Hampshire Hotel in Groningen will be hosting the launch of Het volk boven, the Dutch translation of Czech novelist Jaroslav Rudiš’ latest novella Národní třída (2013). At the event he will be talking about his work with Guido Snel, writer and professor in European literature at the University of Amsterdam.
Rudiš (1972) debut novel, Nebe pod Berlínem (The Sky under Berlin), in 2002, was one of the most successful Czech books of recent years. For this novel he received the Jiří Orten Award in 2003. This was followed by a comic-book in three parts which Rudiš wrote together with the artist Jaromír Švejdík, entitled Alois Nebel (2003, 2004, 2005). Not only was this trilogy a hit with readers, but is was also adapted into an animated feature film, which was awarded the European Film Award for Best Animated Feature Film at the Venice Film Festival in 2011. Later it also won the award for Best Animated Feature Film at the Holland Animation Festival in 2012.
Het volk boven is Rudiš’ second work to be translated into Dutch, following the translation of Konec punku v Helsinkách (2010) as Het einde van de punk in Helsinki in 2016. Both works were published by publishing house Nobelman and both works have been translated by Edgar de Bruin.
Rudiš’ books have been translated into many languages including German, Spanish, French, and Italian, among others. Especially the German translations were very well received - so well, actually, that he will be presented the German Award of Literature Houses (Preis der Literaturhauser) for the diversity of his literature and his ability to work with different forms including novels, plays, and comics at the Leipzig Book Fair on 15th March 2018.
The book launch is part of Rudiš’ activities as writer in residence at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIAS) in Amsterdam, during which he will be working on a new book. The event is hosted by the Czech Centre Rotterdam, in collaboration with the Honorary Consulate of the Czech republic in Groningen, the Czech Literary Centre (CLC), the Moravian Library (MZK), and publishing house Nobelman.
The program will start at 18:30 at the Hampshire Hotel in Groningen, free entry.
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