Jana Krötzsch

Jana Krötzsch (b. 1968) grew up in the GDR. Following the resumption of her studies at the Humboldt University of Berlin after the Wende, and thanks to a study stay at the Faculty of Arts in Prague, she developed a love for Bohemistics. Initially, her primary focus was on linguistics. She encouraged the younger generation to take an interest in Slavonic studies, and she raised her children to be bilingual. After working with the Dresdner Lyrikpreis [Dresden Poetry Prize] for twenty years, she succeeded in establishing herself as a translator of poetry. Her translations of work by poets including Milan Děžinský, Miloš Doležal, Radek Fridrich, Marie Šťastná, Jan Škrob, Ondřej Škrabal, Alžběta Stančáková, Kamil Bouška and Tereza Bínová have appeared in literary magazines and anthologies and (in the case of Radek Fridrich) as a separate collection. She moderates author’s readings and acts as an interpreter at various events for professionals. For over 13 years she has delivered eulogies and accompanied the bereaved at funerals and in the afterlife.