Jaroslava Blažková

Jaroslava Blažková (born November 15, 1933 in Velké Meziříčí , Czechoslovakia ; † February 20, 2017 in Guelph , Ontario ) was a Slovak journalist and writer who lived in Canada since 1968 (the Soviet Union invaded the ČSSR). She wrote for both adults and children. Her works have so far been translated into 13 languages; two books have also been filmed.

life and work

After finishing high school in Bratislava , Blažková took up distance learning at the Philosophical Faculty of Comenius University , which she dropped out in 1954. She had already started writing professionally at the age of 17, including for radio. As editor of the newspaper Smena (from 1954) she was dismissed in 1956 for political reasons. She initially worked (in Bratislava) as a horticultural worker, and from 1959 as a freelance journalist and writer. From the early 1960s she was one of the regular authors of the magazine Mladá Tvorba (Young Writing), which played a leading role in overcoming the age of the personality cult and denial of reality. She caused a sensation in 1961 with her debut volume Nylonmond , which justified the “unrestrained individualism of the young generation” without “countering it with an equal counter-image of social responsibility”. Blažková's expressive language interspersed with slang and irony disdains conventional pathos; their heroines insist on self-determination. Her books for children are characterized by their humor, ingenuity and the lively language of children; they arouse imagination and the need for knowledge at the same time. Blažková's literary career ended in 1968 with the invasion of Warsaw Pact troops; she emigrated to Toronto , Canada. In her homeland she was now hushed up; she could hardly speak the language of her exile. Long years of depression followed, during which it remained unproductive. From 1978 to 1989 she worked for the exile publisher 68 Publishers . In 1988 she moved to Guelph in the Canadian province of Ontario has to offer. A more profound turnaround - through which she was able to remain true to the "vice of writing" - was brought about from 1989 by the end of the "Cold War". She experienced reprints and wrote new books. The prominent critic Ondrej Sliacky called it "a legend of modern Slovak prose". Most recently she devoted herself to caring for her sick husband. She published a volume of memories.

Works

For adults

• Nylonový mesiac , Erzählungen, 1961, German Nylonmond , Vienna / Berlin 1962
• Jahniatko a grandi , short stories, 1964
• Poviedka plná sniehu , 1964
• Môj skvelý brat Robinson (My great brother Robinson), novel, 1968
• ... ako z gratulačnej karty (greeting cards), short stories, 1997
• Svadba v Káne Galilejskej (The Wedding at Canaan in Galilee), short stories, 2001
• Happyendy , novel in letters, 2005

For children and teenagers

• Tóno, ja a mravce , Primer, 1961
• Ostrov kapitána Hašašara , primer, 1962, dts. My friend is Captain Haschaschar , Stuttgart 1965
• Ohňostroj pre deduška , Komisches, 1962, dts. Fireworks for grandfather , Stuttgart 1964, Berlin 1966, Ravensburg 1967
• Daduška a jarabáč , picture book, 1964
• Jako si mačky kúpili televízor , fairy tale, 1967, dts. How cats bought a television set , Berlin 1967, Two kittens and a television set , Munich 1967
• Rozprávky z červenej ponožky (Fairy Tale from the Red Stocking), 1969/2002
• Minka a pyžaminka , 2003
• Traja nebojsovia a duch Miguel , 2003

literature

• J. Mišianik u. a .: Dejiny slovenskej literatúry , Preßburg 1962
• P. Stevček: Nová slovenská literatura , Prague 1964
• M. Tomčik: Slovenská literatúra 20. storočia , Prague 1966

Awards

• 1961 Prize from the Slovenský spisovateľ publishing house for the best prose of the year for Nylonmond
• 1963 Fraňo Kráľ Prize for the best children's and young adult prose for Fireworks for Grandfather
• 1964 UNESCO Prize: Honorary Diploma H. ​​Chr. Andersen for fireworks for grandfather
• 1968 Mladé letá award for the best prose of the year for the book Mein prima Bruder Robinson
• 1969 Prize from Mladé letá publishing house for linguistic mastery in children's literature for fairy tales from the red stocking
• 1999 Prize of the Children's Cultural Center Bibiana Trojruža for literary life's work for children
• 2005 SME Readers Prize

Individual evidence

1. ^ According to Belletrista, 2008 , accessed February 15, 2011
2. ^ Kindlers Neues Literatur Lexikon , Munich 1988
3. ↑ ^{a b} Entry about Jaroslava Blažková on Literárne informačné centrum ( German ), accessed on February 15, 2011
4. ↑ Belletrista, 2008 , accessed February 15, 2011

Web links

• Literature by and about Jaroslava Blažková in the catalog of the German National Library