Praise for the German Edition of Balko's Vtedy v Lošonci

 

Peter Balko's debut Vtedy v Lošonci (Once Upon a Time in Lošonc) was quite a success in Slovakia. It has received various awards, e.g. The Ján Johanides Prize, The Tatra banka Foundation Award and The Anasoft litera Readers Prize. In the spring of 2020, the book came out in German translation as Zusammen sind wir unbesiegbar, translated by Zorka Ciklaminy and published by Paul Zsolnay Verlag. Let us share a couple of responses the book has received in German-speaking countries. 

Peter Jungwirth wrote an article for the Wiener Zeitung weekend section Extra titled "Auf Tom Sawyers Spuren" which means "Tracking Tom Sawyer." Here is a quote from the introduction: "Geographically speaking, Lošonc, the small Slovak town spread out in the southern part of our neighboring country, is so close to the border that if the wind is right, you could spit on Hungary. Narratively speaking, Lošonc, in which Kapia and Leviatan become blood brothers, no doubt is very close to important mythic places from film and literature." You can read the rest of the article in German here or on the web

The Austrian daily Vorarlberger Nachrichten writes in its article titled "Lausbuben und Legenden" (Shenanigans and Legends): „Zusammen sind wir unbesiegbar is the story of two mischiefs who can make any innocent animal or citizen of Lošonc feel uneasy.  At the same time, the novel of the young talented Slovak Peter Balko manages to show the history of a small border town and its inhabitants as if by chance, through magic legends." The text can be found here

Here you will find the article written by Jamal Tuschick for the magazine Der Freitag. In "Die Leute von Lošonc" (People from Lošonc) the author writes: "In this border region, nothing comes easy. Only a friendship proves to have the desired flexibility."

 

The Austrian radio Oe1 - ORF also informed about the new book in Ex libris: Bücher, Menschen, Themen. You can find the transcript here

Finally, here are 5 questions in German, answered by Peter Balko on the website Hanser Literaturverlage.

German radio Deutschlandfunk Kultur has selected the book for their summer-reads recommendations list. Apparently, the book is not only a good companion when traveling to Slovakia but it can also inspire readers to pick Slovakia as a destination.

Frank Riedel writes about Peter Balko’s book on literaturkritik.de: “In the near future, publishers could publish more such novels that broaden our awareness of Slovakia with such élan."