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Ladislav Slezák, a graduate of the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy of the ��ɫֱ��, who has been shortlisted for the Jiří Orten Award for his book called Mount Anne, describes last year as a creative one. He adds that he has never written anything in such a short time. Even though he did not win the award in the end, he sees the actual shortlisting as success, since it brought attention to his work.

What does it mean for you to be shortlisted?

I follow the Jiří Orten Award every year. When a book is shortlisted, it is a sign of high-quality literary work irrespective of which book ends up winning the award. That is why I really appreciate being shortlisted since it brought attention to Mount Anne.   

What are the reasons behind the success of your book? What makes it special?

The strength of Mount Anne lies in its authenticity. In fact, it was not written to published. It was meant as a personal poetic story. I felt free and calm when writing it. I did not think about anything and just kept writing. I finished it in two weeks. Then I shared the manuscript with three friends and adapted it according to their comments. Never before had I written a text in such a short time or had opened myself so much in a text. That is the strength of the book, which may help some readers find out what really is important in the world.  

Did you follow what literary critics wrote?

I would, but there is not much to follow. There are many books of poems appearing these days and their quality varies a lot. This makes it difficult for the critics and reviewers to choose a book for review. I have been following current Czech poetry for a long time and I actually teach a special subject about it at a secondary school.

It is extremely difficult to find your ways, and therefore reviews are scarce. I believe that I will be able to read a review of my work thanks to being shortlisted for the award. But let’s face it, you do not write books because of reviews. Mount Anne is dedicated to all who have lost themselves. If it helps anyone to get back to their self, then the book was not written in vain. And the number of reviews is irrelevant in this respect. 

Will the fact of being shortlisted for this award serve as motivation for further writing?

Generally speaking, last year was extremely creative for me. I wrote a lot, and I have not stopped polishing it yet. Being shortlisted was, in a way, a sign of appreciation telling me that it makes sense to keep writing and that I have something to share with my readers. At the same time, it taught me that there is nowhere to run or nothing to push for. If you write a good text, it will attract some attention. 

Do you have any favourite authors among the Award winners?

Since my MA degree, I have read all the shortlisted titles and I choose my own personal winner every year (and this year was no exception in this respect). My personal preference lies with poetry; my favourite authors include Ondřej Buddeus, Ondřej Hanus, Jan Těsnohlídek Jr., Jan Nemček. Two years ago, I loved the work of Ondřej Macl. Last year, the work of Anna Cima appealed to me. 

Mgr. Ladislav Slezák (1990)

A graduate of the History of Literary Culture at the ��ɫֱ��. At the moment, he works as a secondary school teacher. His focus lies with education and didactics of humanities. He made his debut with a poem entitledNoc s klaunem (In English: Night with a clown, 2013). This was followed by a collection of poems calledMonotónně znějící samoty (In English: Monotone solitude, 2015) and a poem called Hořký letopočet (In English: Bitter year, 2017). He published a poem in prose called Mount Anne (2019), for which he has been shortlisted for Jiří Orten Award. He published in magazines including Host, Dobrá adresa, Tahy, Partonyma, �ʱ�ž.