Stehlíková Olga

Olga Stehlíková (b. 1977) graduated in Czech Studies and General Linguistics from the Faculty of Arts of Charles University in Prague, where she also completed her doctoral studies, and in Journalism from Prague’s College of Journalism and Media Studies (VOŠP). She works as a publisher’s and magazine editor and a journalist for matters literary. Since 2016, Stehlíková has produced the online magazine iTvar/Ravt and made radio programmes about books; she previously worked for the review Pandora. For the past six years she has both managed the Poetry Edition Series of the Odeon publishing house and written twice-monthly interpretations of collections by contemporary Czech poets for the programme Jedna báseň on Czech Television’s Art channel.

Since 2014, Stehlíková has published four collections of her own poetry: Týdny [Weeks], the bilingual couplets Vejce/Eggs with a vinyl record by Tomáš Braun (both publ. Dauphin), Vykřičník jak stožár [Exclamation Mark as Pole] (publ. Perplex), and Zkouška Sirén [Test of Siren] (publ. Host). Under the pseudonym Jaroslava Ovalská, with Milan Ohnisko, she has written the collections Za lyrický subjekt [As a Poetic Subject] (Druhé město, 2018) and To je mezipanelární jizva, lásko [A Scar between Panels, My Love] (Druhé město, 2024). The poem ‘O čem mlúvi Matka, kejdy mlčí’ [What Mother Talks about When She’s Quiet] was published in book form by Dobrý život in 2020. Stehlíková’s poems have been translated into 15 languages ​​and published in several anthologies at home and abroad.

Stehlíková has published three anthologies of poetry in translation: În fiecare miercuri, la noi / Každou středu u nás [Every Wednesday at Ours] (Romanian-Czech; transl. Mircea Dan Duță), Porträts (in German; transl. Lena Dorn), and Though the Sky is Embroidered by a Zigzagging Bat (in English; transl. David Vichnar).

She is the author of seven books for children, from the novella Kluci netančej! [Boys Don’t Dance!] (publ. Portál), the modern fairy tale Kařut a Řabach  [Kařut and Řabach] (publ. Běžíliška), the catalogue of humanity Já, člověk [I, Human] (publ. Albatros), the novella Mojenka [Mylene] (publ. Host), to the humorous story Mehlo, Šika, Kňuba a Motora [Mehlo, Šika, Kňuba and Motora] (publ. Portál) and the poetic reference work for very young children Výkladový slovník [An Explanatory Dictionary] (publ. Host). Knoflíček [Little Button], a story for the very young, was published by Běžíliška in 2026. Krakoš a Sněžná Králička [Krakoš and the Snow Rabbit], a longer novel for children, will be published by Pikola in 2027.

All Stehlíková’s children’s books have been included in the Nejlepší knihy dětem [Best Books for Children] catalogue. Kařut and Řabach, An Explanatory Dictionary and Mylene were nominated for the Zlatá stuha [Golden Ribbon] award in the Literary section; Mylene won the Golden Ribbon in the Art section, while An Explanatory Dictionary won the Golden Ribbon for Publishing Achievement.

I, Human was included on the White Ravens Best Books for Children international list. An Explanatory Dictionary was also included in the prestigious White Ravens catalogue and nominated for the Most Beautiful Czech Book of 2023; it is now being translated into Italian. 

Stehlíková has published several short stories in magazines.

Works translated into: English, German, Macedonian, Romanian, Slovak.