Evening with Karel Hynek Mácha's "May"

The occasional stamp - Karel Hynek Mácha and his Region; 200th Anniversary of Birth

When: Tuesday, November 9, 5:30 p.m.
Where: American Center, Tržiště 13, Prague 1, 1st floor

Translator and poet Marcela Sulak will read from her translation of "May" and speak on Mácha's Czech Landscapes. November 16th marks the 200th anniversary of the greatest Czech romantic poet birth. For this occasion, the Twisted Spoon Press is bringing out a new edition of Miss Sulak's critically acclaimed translation.

Translator and poet Marcela Sulak will read from her translation of "May" and speak on Mácha's Czech Landscapes. "May", Mácha's epic masterpiece, was published in April 1836, just seven months before his death. Considered the "pearl" of Czech poetry, it is a tale of seduction, revenge, and patricide. Program will be in English only.

Program will be in English only.

Karel Hynek Mácha

Compared to Byron, Shelley, and Poe, Karel Hynek Mácha (1810-1836) was the greatest Czech romantic poet, and arguably the most influential poet in Czech literature. Unlike other seminal 19th-century European poets, Mácha's work has been largely ignored in English translation. The present volume, the only available in English, provides the original Czech text in parallel and includes a series of illustrations by Jindřich Štýrský.

About Marcela Sulak

A native of Texas, Marcela Malek Sulak's poetry has appeared in a wide variety of literary journals.  She has authored two collections: Of All the Things That Don't Exist, I Love You Best and Immigrant. In addition to May, her translations include Karel Jaromír Erben's Bouquet, from Czech (Twisted Spoon Press, forthcoming in 2011) and Mutombo Nkulu-N'Sengha's Bela-Wenda: Poems of Congo-Zaire, from French (Host Publications, forthcoming in 2010).  Having served as an Assistant Professor of Literature at American University in Washington D.C., she currently directs the Shaindy Rudoff Graduate Program in Creative Writing at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, where she is Senior Lecturer in the Department of English.