Translating from

španielsky jazyk, portugalský jazyk

Birth date

30. 06. 1944  [en] Hlohovec  

Fields of interest

próza, poézia, esej, preklad

Briefly about author

Štrpka entered literature as a member of Lonely Runners group of poets. His first book The Short Childhood of Lancers is a record of growing up and a record of the defiance with which a young soul faces the humiliation of social reality. The next book Tristan Talks Trash deals with empty phrases of political and social Newspeak. Now and Other Islands is a concept, an exploration of man here and now. It points to hidden traps within and without, his history and his competence as the maker of history. In the fourth book Before Metamorphosis the poet trieds to free himself of the heavy burden of logical thinking and previous experience. Štrpka is obviously reorganizing and repositioning qualities and meanings in new structures thus giving them a completely different and new dimension. News from the Apple reaches into the magical depths of the author`s world, which is multicoloured and full of unresolved mysteries. The book of lyrics The Blue Hill is a rare document of cooperation between the rock musician and film-maker Dežo Ursíny and the poet Ivan Štrpka. It contains all Štrpka`s poems-turned- -songs until 1987. The collection entitled Everything Is in a Shell oscillates between a travelogue and grotesque vision with a strong inclination to Eastern philosophies, particularly Zen Buddhism. The poetical composition Beautiful Naked World gives the impression that it was written by a man who looked over his shoulder and suddenly discovered a world full of miracles and fairy tales. Maybe it is an expression of his longing to see things as they used to be: in their natural form. His essays are based on political thought and experiences as chief editor of a literary weekly. Rovinsko, South- west. Mother`s Death , full of grave and dark tones, is an attempt to evoke trysts with reality from the other side of experience.

Briefly about production

poetry:
The Short Childhood of Lancers (Krátke detstvo kopijníkov, 1969), Tristan Talks Trash (Tristan tára, 1971), Now and Other Islands (Teraz a iné ostrovy, 1981), Before the Metamorphosis (Pred premenou, 1982), News from the Apple (Správy z jablka, 1985), Everything Is in a Shell (Všetko je v škrupine, 1989), Beautiful Naked World (Krásny nahý svet, 1990), The Blue Hill (Modrý vrch, 1988, lyrics to music by Dežo Ursíny), Rovinsko, Southwest. Mother`s Death (Rovinsko, juhozápad. Smrť matky, 1995), Intermezzos. Beheaded Puppets (Medzihry. Bábky o hlavu kratšie, 1997), Bebé: One Crisis, Voices and Other Poems (Bebé: jedna kríza, Hlasy a iné básne) (both 2001), Twenty-five Poems (25 básní, 2003), Silent Hand (Tichá ruka, 2006), Poems (Básne I, 2008) 

prose:
The Hostage (Rukojemník, 1999)

essays:
Spasm of the Open Palm and Other Essays (Kŕč roztvorenej dlane a iné eseje, 1995)

TRANSLATIONS BY THE AUTHOR
Štrpka has translated works of world known authors such as M. de Cervantes, J. L. Borges and F. Pessoa as well as an anthology of contemporary Portuguese poetry Honey and Poison (1999)

WORKS TRANSLATED
Štrpka`s poems have been translated into several languages and published abroad in numerous literary magazines and anthologies.
Intermezzos. Beheaded Puppets (1998 German)
Rovinsko, Southwest (1999 Portuguese, 2001, 2003 Romanian, Bulgarian)

Messages from the Apple (Správy z jablka, 2008 Serbian)

Selected poems (literary journal Tratti, 2011, Italian)

Biography for author

Born 30 June 1944 in Hlohovec. He grew up in Southern Slovakia. In 1963 -1969 he studied Slovak and Spanish at Comenius University in Bratislava. After short-time jobs as a literary editor he worked for Slovak Television in Bratislava in the department of children`s programmes. For political reasons he was not allowed to publish his works during the Seventies. In the mid-Eighties he became chief editor of the magazine Mladé rozlety and then deputy chief editor of a newly established literary weekly, Literárny týždenník. In 1990 - 1993 he was chief editor of the weekly Kultúrny život and since 1999 he has worked as chief editor of the literary magazine Romboid in Bratislava.

about author

Štrpka`s poetry certainly is meant for the sophisticated reader because it is not simple. It is an intellectual message that cannot be understood from one poem alone, it has to be read as a whole.

Štrpka is obviously the "monolithic" type of author who has his very own opinions, firm attitudes and values but on the other hand he is not immune to literary and non-literary movements. There is a certain tension between his way of processing reality and his way of letting reality influence him. Štrpka grasps reality by using complex poetical apparatus, he does not reduce complexities of reality to a few signs like Strážay, but describes it from different angles almost like a Cubist. He literally uses quadrophonic instrumentation. It is an orgy of punctuation: full stops, commas, colons, dashes, italics and capitals, almost as if the verses cried out while you read them quietly.

The New Age demands new poetry, sharp and uncompromising vision, and not showers of sweet smelling petals. Štrpka`s poetry is like a film, full of movement and rapidly changing images, with lots of detail and a story.

It is very interesting to watch how Štrpka reevaluates his own subject, gives it a new coat and how this redecorated text gains completely different qualities. This becomes even more obvious if we compare Štrpka the poet with Štrpka the lyric writer. While in his rock compositions (in cooperation with Dežo Ursíny) the atmosphere is enhanced by music, in poems he has to achieve the same effect by different means. What Ursíny sings, Štrpka is trying to "explain" in words... Štrpka`s language is condensed and he has everything it takes to make a good poem: wit, idea, invention, elegance, suggestion, conciseness, paraphrase and last but not least, ingenious metaphors.

With Štrpka, poetic images are born mainly from inner human longing for "self rejuvenation and constitution in the springs" where "out of the authentic being
a reflex of language is continually coming to existence". Only thus can people live the life of independent individuals rather than collectively anaesthetized monsters.

Awards

Awards: Ivan Krasko Prize for début, 1969

Slovak Writers Organisation´s Association Prize, 1995

Dominik Tatarka Award, 1970

Tatra Banka Award for the Arts, 2003

Ján Ondruš Award, 2004

 

 

Sample

A DIFFERENT SUN