The Lesser Histories

Jan Zábrana's The Lesser Histories is the first collection of poetry in English by a twentieth-century Czech writer. It is a testament to his times, documenting a splendid and bitter isolation and immersed in the humor, hatreds, and loves of the everyday. Published in Czech in 1968, it fell into neglect until the fall of Communism in 1989, when Zábranas collected poems and selected diaries were published and acclaimed as a major twentieth-century writer.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 100 pages
Publication date: 31 January 2023
Publisher: Karolinum,Nakladatelstvi Univerzity Karlovy,Czech Republic

Jan Zábrana, a renowned Czech writer of the twentieth century, penned his first collection of poetry in English. Exiled from his own life by Communism, he found himself trapped in a tower block in Central Europe, cut off from his parents, and prohibited from studying languages in college. Faced with the choice between rebellion and submission, Zábrana considered himself a dead man walking. "To all those who keep asking me to do things for them, I sometimes feel like saying: 'But I'm dead. I died long ago. Why do you keep treating me as if I were one of the living?'" Despite the dire circumstances, he produced The Lesser Histories, a remarkable collection of sixty-four sonnets that explore themes of age, sex, and political repression. Stripped of personal pathos and political stridency, the lines blend seamlessly with the voices of poets he had translated, leaving only a faint trace of subjectivity—humorous, oblique, and poignant—to reflect on his own works and days. The poems capture a splendid and bitter isolation, immersing themselves in the humor, hatreds, and loves of everyday life. Originally published in Czech in 1968, the collection fell into neglect after the fall of Communism in 1989. However, with the publication of this collection, Zábrana can now reach English-language readers for the first time, garnering acclaim as a significant twentieth-century writer.

Dimension: 216 x 152 x 10 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9788024649337