On 6 November 2023, on the occasion of the Week of Science and Technology, Milan Richter, writer, poet and literary translator visited us at the Faculty of Central European Studies.

The event was opened by the director of the Institute of Central European Languages and Cultures

, doc. PhDr. Ján Gallik, PhD. The programme was then chaired by PhDr. Monika Adamická, PhD., who is the composer of the author’s poetry selection Na nádvorí smrti (In English: In the Courtyard of Death) which debuted this year.

Milan Richter was born after World War II, and in addition to his literary career, he has also worked as a journalist and diplomat. His work has been honoured with a number of awards, including the Ján Hollý Prize and the Interpretation Prize of the Swedish Academy. The author comes from a Jewish background. His parents met during the war and his grandparents died in the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Since the 1970s, he has published a great number of poems in which he reflects on the totalitarian regimes in Central Europe and the horrors of the Holocaust and anti-Semitism. His works are interspersed with biblical symbolism and love themes. After his diplomatic years in Norway, he worked at the Národné literárne centrum (English: National Literary Institute) in Bratislava. Through his translations, he promoted Slovak literature abroad, which laid the foundations of the grant system SLOLIA (Slovak Literature Abroad), which is still active today. He is the chief editor of the magazine Slovak Literary Review, as well as the launcher of two literary festivals and his own publishing house MilaniuM.

The focus of our event was his aforementioned collection of poems published on the occasion of his anniversary. The poet says the themes and motifs of the publication are self-evident. The selection includes a mixture of love, political, anti-government and anti-regime pieces, as well as poems recalling his years in Norway. During his presentation, we got to listen to some of the poems read out loud by the author himself.  

At the end of the session, we had an opportunity to participate in an informal discussion. The event, like the writer’s life work itself, was enriching and enlightening. It was filled with biographical stories and fascinating insights into Slovak and world literature.

Written by Bc. Alexandra Szalaiová (2^nd year Central European Areal Studies)
Photography: Mgr. Michal Krauter (ÚSJK FSŠ )