Jáchym Topol (born 4 August 1962) is a Czech poet, novelist, musician and journalist who became a laureate of the Czech State Award for Literature in October 2017 for his novel A Sensitive Person and his life work to date.

Life

Jáchym Topol was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, to Josef Topol, Czech playwright, poet, and translator of Shakespeare, and Jiřina Topolová, daughter of the famous Czech Catholic writer Karel Schulz. Topol's writing began with lyrics for the rock band Psí vojáci, led by his younger brother, Filip, in the late '70s and early '80s. In 1982, he cofounded the samizdat magazine Violit, and in 1985 Revolver Revue, a samizdat review that specialized in modern Czech writing. Because of his father's dissident activities, Topol was not allowed to go to university. After graduating from gymnasium he worked as a stoker, stocker, construction worker, and coal deliveryman. Several times he was imprisoned for short periods, both for his samizdat publishing activities and for his smuggling across the Polish border in cooperation with members of Polish Solidarity. He was also a signatory of the Charter 77 human rights declaration. During the 1989 Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia, Topol wrote for the independent newsletter Informační servis, which later became the investigative weekly Respekt. He has also worked for the daily Lidové noviny. He currently works as program director for the Václav Havel Library in Prague. Topol has two daughters, Josefína and Marie, with his first wife, and a son, Vojtěch Eliáš, with his second.

Works

Poetry

/ Topol's first collection of poetry, published in samizdat, received the Tom Stoppard Prize for Unofficial Literature (founded in 1983 by Tom Stoppard and awarded by the Charta 77 Foundation in Stockholm); first non-samizdat edition published by Atlantis in 1990. / translation Анжелина Пенчева (Anželina Penčeva): Обичам те до лудост, Парадокс, Sofie (2020, Bulgarian) / Five poems from this collection were published in Alex Zucker's translation in the Spring 1994 issue of Trafika: an international literary review.

Novels

/ Received the 1995 Cena Egona Hostovského (Egon Hostovský Prize), awarded for a "novel which artistically exceeds the standard production" / English translation Alex Zucker: City Sister Silver (Catbird Press, 2000) / Polish translation Leszek Engelking: Siostra (Wydawnictwo W.A.B., 2002) / Also translated into German and Hungarian / German translation Peter Sacher: Engel Exit (Volk und Welt, 1997) / French translation Marianna Canavaggio: Ange exit (J'ai lu, 2002) / Turkish translation Martin Alaçam: Andel (Norgunk, 2005) / Also translated into Hungarian / French translation Marianna Canavaggio: Missions nocturnes (Laffont, 2002) / Polish translation Leszek Engelking: Nocna praca (Wydawnictwo W.A.B., 2004) / English translation Marek Tomin: Nightwork (Portobello Books, 2014) / Also translated into Croatian, Dutch, German, Italian, Spanish and Swedish / French translation Marianna Canavaggio: Zone cirque (Editions Noir Sur Blanc, 2009) / Polish translation Leszek Engelking: Strefa cyrkowa (Wydawnictwo W.A.B., 2008) / English translation David Short: Gargling with Tar (Portobello Books, 2010) / Also translated into Dutch, German, Italian, Norwegian. / Received the 2010 Cena Jaroslava Seiferta / Swedish translation Tora Hedin: Kallt land (Ersatz, 2009) ISBN 978-91-88858-95-5 / Dutch translation Edgar de Bruin: De werkplaats van de duivel (Anthos, 2010) / Italian translation Letizia Kostner: L'officina del diavolo (Zandonai, 2012) ISBN 978-88-95538-83-9 / English translation Alex Zucker: The Devil's Workshop (Portobello Books, 2013) / Received the State Prize for Literature in 2017 for this novel and his life work to date / Polish translation Dorota Dobrew: Wrażliwy człowiek, wydawnictwo czarne, Sękowa (2019) / German translation Eva Profousová: Ein empfindsamer Mensch, Suhrkamp (2019) / Italian translation Laura Angeloni: Una persona sensibile, Keller editore, Rovereto (2020) / Dutch translation Edgar de Bruin: Een gevoelig iemand, Uitgeverij Voetnoot, Antwerpen (2020, ) / Macedonian translation Соња Стојменска-Елзесер (Sonja Stojmenska-Elzeser): Чувствителен човек, Артконект, Skopje (2020) / French translation Marianne Canavaggio: Une personne sensible, Noir sur Blanc Lausanne (2021) / Serbian translation Uroš Nikolić: Osetljivi čovek, Heliks, Beograd (2021) / Lithuanian translation Vaida Braškyté Němečková: Jautrus žmogus, Aukso žuvys, Vilnius (2021) / Croatian translation Mirna Stehlíková Đurasek: Osjetljiv čovjek, V.B.Z., Zagreb (2022) / Swedish translation Marie Wenger: En Känslig Själ, Rámus förlag, Malmö (2022) / English translation Alex Zucker: A Sensitive Person, Yale University Press (2022)

Novellas

/ English translation Alex Zucker: A Trip to the Train Station (Petrov, 1995; Albatros Plus, 2011; Czech-English bilingual edition)

Short stories

Plays

Literary reports

/ English translation Anthony Bartos: Václav Švéda, the murdered idol (cardandcube, 2023)

Translations

/ A collection of Native American legends and myths, selected and translated into Czech from English by Topol

Song lyrics

Films

Other

/ A book-length interview with Topol by Tomáš Weiss

Awards and honors