Since the beginning of the year, an almanac of poems and small prose by contemporary Russian-language authors living in the Czech Republic has been presented at several presentations in Prague (for example, at the Czech Centre of the International PEN Club). It is called Nová Archa and is published in memory of the publisher and cultural activist Oleg Krylov (Nová Archa, Oktan Print, s.r.o., Prague, 2024). The common denominator of the "seven" authors of the collection is that their Russian works were published by the aforementioned Krylov. This time, however, excerpts of their work were published in Czech translation, which was - albeit in the form of a much larger anthology - the last unfortunately unrealised project of Oleg Krylov, who wanted to draw the attention of Czech readers to the existence of a large stream of writers writing in Russian in the country. The collection is dedicated to his memory.
What we should know
Before we get to the content itself, it is very important to get acquainted with the history of the contemporary Russian-language author community, which was created in the Czech Republic, among other things, on the basis of an early seedbed. This is an extremely important contribution to the history of foreign-language literature in the Czech Republic, written by the poet, translator and literary scholar Natalya Volkova, a graduate of Charles University (who, incidentally, was the first to translate Saturnin into Russian). Let us note in passing that we learn absolutely nothing about this in Czech schools of literature, especially today, in an age that does not favour Russians in Bohemia.
The history of the Russian-speaking minority in the territory of the former Czechoslovakia spans more than a hundred years. Let us recall telegraphically the 1920s, when Prague became one of the centres of Russian emigration along with Paris, Berlin and Belgrade. The refugees were attracted to us by the generous Russian Relief Action, initiated by T. G. Masaryk, which also made possible the establishment of Russian schools and various societies and associations. Even the Union of Russian Writers and Journalists in the Czechoslovakia (1922-1941) and the most famous literary association Poustevna poets were founded. Russian writers in the 1920s and 1930s published in 174 Russian and foreign-language periodicals, including 87 Czech ones. One of the first and most famous achievements of the Union was the publication of the literary anthology Archa, the title of which was suggested by perhaps the greatest Russian poet of the time, Marina Tsvetaeva, who lived and worked for a long time in what was then Czechoslovakia.
For ordinary consumers of literature, the paragraphs describing the founding of the Marina Tsvetaeva Society, an organization cooperating with Czech Russianists, will be of particular interest. After November 1989 and the gradual disintegration of the USSR, the so-called fourth wave of Russian emigration headed to the Czech Republic, thanks to which the number of members of the Russian-speaking community in the Czech Republic has been growing again since the 1990s. At the beginning of the new millennium, the Russian Tradition organization was founded to respond to the needs of the Russian community with the publication of the magazine Ruské slovo (Russian Word), including the Russian Tradition Library.
Time for Krylov
Oleg came to the Czech Republic with his wife Olga with the aforementioned "fourth wave" and was looking for his place in his new homeland. Both of them had always been inclined towards literature, and so in 1994 they founded the Union of Russian Writers OK in Prague, but as a limited liability company, and a few years later started publishing activities in Olga Krylova Publishing House. Even Oleg himself, who was the main man in this duo, hardly knew what a turn it would take. He organized literary evenings, concerts, book launches, book signings and presentations of authors, including Czech writers. He has long maintained contacts with the Czech centre of the International PEN Club. Since 2019, the word "Russian" has been dropped from the original name, because in the more than 500 book titles published by Krylov and Olga until then, there are no longer only authors born in the former USSR, but also Czech writers and foreign poets and writers. In addition to fiction, the publishing house's scope has been extended to include books with a journalistic or scientific focus, including factual literature, as well as works for the Czech Centre of the International PEN Club. However, until his death two years ago, the publisher also maintained continuity of relations with the Russian community, which has paid tribute to him today with the volume Nová Archa.
Five poets, two prose writers
The collection opens with poems by Leyla Begim from Azerbaijan, followed by Olga Belova-Dalina from Moscow, then Loreta Vašková from Kaunas, Lithuania. Next, the poetry is interspersed with a fanciful philosophical tale from the pen of novelist Georgy Gertsovsky, born in Kuybyshev. Lyudmila Svirskaya, a poet born in Kazakhstan, some of whose verses were translated by one of the leading Czech poets, Karel Sýs, continues with her poetry and fairy tales, followed by the sensitive verses of Natalia Volkova, originally from Ekaterinburg. The collection concludes with a thrilling science fiction story by Andrei Fozikos from Dorobratov (today's Ukraine). What a name, such a talented and hard-working author of many books. Their medallions at the end of the publication include a personal remembrance of the publisher Oleg Krylov.
It remains only to recommend the book warmly to the Czech reader and especially to applaud the successful, poetic translation into Czech. Especially Olga Belova-Dalinova's Autumn Wreath of Sonnets (translated by the author and Antonín Kameník) deserves a poetry prize, if there is one in the Czech Republic. It only remains to add that the author of these lines also had two titles published by Olga Krylová, both of which were reissued by domestic publishers in the following years.
Prepared by Ivan Černý, journalist and writer
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