Ajvaz Michal

Michal Ajvaz (b. 1949) is a philosopher, poet, novelist and essayist. After studying at Charles University’s Faculty of Arts he had various manual jobs. In the 1990s he was an editor at the journal Literární noviny, and since 2003 he has worked at the Centre for Theoretical Studies – a joint research institute of Charles University and the Czech Academy of Sciences. Since 1989 his publications have included a book of poetry, Vražda v hotelu Intercontinental (Murder in the Intercontinental Hotel, 1989), books of short stories (e.g. Návrat starého varana [(The Return of the Old Komodo Dragon, 1991)], several novels (e.g. Druhé město, [The Other City, 1993], Zlatý věk [The Golden Age, 2001], Cesta na jih [Voyage to the South, 2008]), philosophical studies (e.g. Kosmos jako sebeutváření [The Cosmos as Self-Creation, 2017]) and books of essays (e.g. Příběh znaků a prázdna [The Story of Signs and Emptiness, 2006]). He is the recipient of the Jaroslav Seifert Award, a Magnesia Litera prize and the Prix Utopiales Européen. His books have been translated into twenty-four languages, including English and German.

Works translated into: Albanian, Arabic, Armenian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Dutch, English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Russian, Serbian, Slovenian, Swedish, Tamil, Turkish, with the rights sold to Ethiopia and Greece.

Foto: David Konečný

Published in German:

Die andere Stadt
– novel, trans. Veronika Siska, Allee Verlag, 2025
– czech orig. Druhé město, Petrov, 2005

More translations:

The Other City
– novel, trans. Gerald Turner, Dalkey Archive Press, 2009
– czech orig. Druhé město, Petrov, 2005
Journey to the South
– novel, trans. Andrew Oackland, Dalkey Archive Press, 2023
– czech orig. Druhé město, Petrov, 2005
L’autre ville
– novel, trans. Benoît Meunier, Mirobole, 2015
– czech orig. Druhé město, Petrov, 2005
L’Âge d’or
– novel, trans. Michal a Aline Pacvoňovi, Mirobole, 2017
– czech orig. Druhé město, Petrov, 2005