Birth date

09. 10. 1936  [en] Žilina  

Fields of interest

próza, poézia, esej, dráma, literatúra pre deti a mládež, preklad

Briefly about author

Feldek together with J. Stacho, J. Mihalkovia, J. Ondruš and J. Šimonovič prepared an issue of the journal Mladá tvorba (1958) where for the first time these poets were introduced as a group presenting an integrated artistic programme covering the fields of poetry, artistic translation, and children`s literature. Literary science has since dubbed this group as the "Trnava Group" or the concretists or the neopoetists. Feldek was the dominant figure in this generation of artists. His poetry, prose, literature for children and drama remained faithful to alternative principles whose main source of inspiration was Czech poetism and in particular the poetry of V. Nezval.
Opposing the one-dimensional schematic literature of the first half of the 1950`s he wrote poetry "for all five senses", constructed upon uncommon sensitivity to world perception, emphasis on feeling, concreteness, imagery, fantasy and intimacy. It is poetry dominated by metaphorical principles based on "friction of the borders of distant levels and their sudden proximity. Association."
A variation and addition to the basic themes and motifs in Feldek`s poetry are his books written for children. Here there is a special principle of dialogue between adults and children.
The only book of prose for adults is his novel Van Stiphout in which he combines the convention of the picaresque novel with his own experience as an editor of a works magazine in Nižná. He also incorporates his interpretation of the stories of Ostap Bender by Ilf and Petrov. This novel parodies in a unique way the Slovak industrial literature of the first half of the 1950`s.
Van Stiphout together with Notes on the Epos mark a break in Feldek`s work. From the authenticity of the poetic subject`s private life Feldek moves towards an authenticity based on revealing "the intimacy" of the external world and its historical uniqueness. This is why he parodies the basic principles of the totalitarian regime (Van Stiphout, A Slovak on the Moon, Homo Scribens , the plays The Art of Not Leaving and The Test ) and why he enters into its ultimate civic destruction.

Briefly about production

poetry:
The Only Salty Home (Jediný slaný domov, 1961), A Chalk Circle (Kriedový kruh, 1970), Paracelsus (Paracelsus, 1973), Two around the Table (Dvaja okolo stola, 1976), Notes on the Epos (Poznámky na epos, 1980), A Slovak on the Moon (Slovák na Mesiaci, 1986), Crying is Beautiful (Plakať je krásne, 1990), A Farewell Dance (Odzemok na rozlúčku, 1992), Making Love in Middle Age (Milovanie v pokročilom veku, 1999), The Beloved´s Medicine Chest (Lekárnička zamilovaných, 2004), Seventy about Love (Sedemdesiat o láske, 2006, from Oľga Feldeková) 

novel:
Van Stiphout (Van Stiphout, 1980), My Wife Oľga and Infinity (Moja žena Oľga a nekonečno, 2004), The Golden Wedding (Zlatá svadba, 2010, Feldek - Cipár) 

children's books (prose and poetry - a selection):
The Head That I Had Then (Hlava, ktorú som mal vtedy, 1967), On a Deaf Granny and Grandson Goldie (O hluchej babke a vnúčikovi Zlatúšikovi, 1967), On the Wings of
a Butterfly (Na motýlích krídlach, 1974), The Blue Book of Fairy Tales (Modrá kniha rozprávok, 1974), The Alphabet Flower (Kvet alfabet, 1976), 5 x Botafogo (5 x Botafogo, 1977, puppet theatre plays), Amber`s World (Jantárový svet, 1977),
A Cheerful Album of Animals (Veselý album zvierat, 1979), The Green Book of Fairy Tales (Zelená kniha rozprávok, 1983), The Great Book of Slovak Fairy-tales (Veľká kniha slovenských rozprávok, 2003) The Blue-green Book of Fairy-tales (Modrozelená kniha rozprávok, 2004)

His recent children`s books were written in Czech: Hurvínek Window (Hurvínkovo okno, 1997), Pápiernice (Pápiernice, 1997), The Snow Queen (Snehová kráľovna, 1999, which Feldek re-wrote and staged as a musical for children - both in Czech and English, 2000)

essays:
From Tongue to Tongue (Z reči do reči, 1977), Homo Scribens (Homo scribens, 1982), A Propos Conscience (Á propos svedomie, 1989), World Is Also Other Places (Svet je aj inde, 1998, short stories and feuillettons, written together with his wife Oľga), The Cursed Trnava Group (Prekliata Trnavská skupina, 2007) 

theatre plays (a selection):
Metaphor (Metafora, 1977), An Aunt for Eating (Teta na zjedenie, 1978), Jánošík According to Vivaldi (Jánošík podľa Vivaldiho, 1979), Run Away, Miss Nitush (Utekajte, slečna Nituš, 1986), The Art of Not Leaving (Umenie neodísť, 1988), The Test (Skúška, 1988), The Snow Queen (Sněhová královna, 1999, Czech-English), Horror in the Gamekeeper´s Cottage (Horor v horárni, 2002)

TRANSLATIONS BY THE AUTHOR
Feldek is one of the leading Slovak poetry translators. With the help of linguists he has translated dozens of books, including writers such as Lautréamont, Blok, Marshak, Sophocles, Tagore, Mayakovskij, Shakespeare, Jeffers, Antonych, Erben, Kollár, Goethe, Heine, Apollinaire, Pushkin, Morgenstern, and Rimbaud.

WORKS TRANSLATED
Feldek`s poems, stories for young and old, and essays have been widely translated and published abroad.
Botafogo (1970 Czech, 1986 Danish)
Emerald World (1982 Bulgarian)
Music Before Making Love (1983 Czech, selected poems)
The Blue Book of Fairy Tales (1979 Georgian, 1985 Polish, Slovenian, English)
Van Stiphout (1983 Russian, 1987 Estonian)
Sad Comedies (1985 Hungarian)
Selected Poems (1987 Georgian)
Metaphors (1988 Czech, selected poems, prose, and essays)

Biography for author

Born 9 October 1936 in Žilina. He studied at secondary schools in Senica and in Žlina where he matriculated in 1954. Then he studied Slovak at the Pedagogic Faculty of Comenius University in Bratislava. At the same time he worked as an editor in the Mladé letá publishing house. In 1960 - 1961 he was a works magazine editor in Nižná. From 1961 to 1973 he was a freelance writer and from 1973 to 1986 an editor in the Slovenský spisovateľ opublishing house. In 1989 he joined the social movement directed against the communist regime and in November 1989 he co-founded the movement Public Against Violence. From 1990 he was chief editor of the weekly Ahoj Európa. Since August 1995 Feldek has alternately lived together with his wife Oľga (a prose writer) in Prague and Bratislava.

about author

Feldek`s purpose is to awaken the childlike perceiver from a solipsistic, illusory comprehension of a text to a partner-like communicative relationship... His entering into communication with a child reader is a unique understanding of children of our time. However, this doesn`t mean that the author is devalued. It is the opposite, it is the respect of something simple which nevertheless has full value in the author`s eye.

Awards

Ivan Krasko Prize (1961) for the best début of the year
Title of Meritorious Artist (1979)

Sample

IN HONOUR OF ROBINSON JEFFERS