ROSIE-ON-THE-ROAD by Rosie Goldsmith: Prague. Interview with Professor Tomáš Kubíček, Director of the Moravian Library, Director of Czechia 2026 Frankfurt Book Fair

RG: How do you see contemporary Czech literature at the moment?

TK: This generation of writers is strong, the importance of literature in society is strong, it is important, it is discussed in society. It is part of society and you can feel it. It’s always been part of the society in this country. 

I was here in November 1989 – my first job with the BBC. So I saw Václav Havel on the balcony. He was a writer first and foremost – Czech literature was politically charged then. How has it changed since then?

It is something specific that belongs to Czech literature, also in history: Czech literature was part of a social movement, always, from the 19th century to the Velvet revolution. But during the last 30 years, this connection was practically lost in the Czech Republic. It wasn’t as responsible for the state of her society as before. 

Do you regret that? 

Yes. It was a good time for socially engaged literature, and it was quality literature. But today in Czech society we see the return of this special relationship between literature and society, because we are living in a very special time in which the connection between writers and society is being recreated – literature and writers matter. There are so many topical issues and books are important tools for discussion and connecting and informing people.

How would you describe the financial situation for Czech literature? Are you happy with how much money is going into literature generally? 

It can always be more. But in fact we are in a quite good situation because of zero VAT on books. Books are reasonably priced, the market is stable and Czechs read a lot. It’s unbelievable. 

It’s so impressive. Prague book fair is more like a book festival. There are so many public events for all ages – I’ve seen so many children about. It’s wonderful to see. 

We have a long tradition of integrating reading and books in school education, from an early age, and teachers know it is very important for children to read books to have a better life later and better chances in the job market. 

How much of what you read is in translation?

It’s huge – about 60% of the market. We’ve always been influenced by books in translation, it is part of the Czech culture, we’ve always been influenced especially by French and German literature. Czech readers are readers in translation, which also means that we regard the art of translation highly and have lots of translators. 

And we have a large number of libraries in the Czech Republic, the densest library network in the world. I’m a librarian, I’m director of the Moravian Library. With libraries you always have networks and readings and public – one idea is to use this library model to integrate libraries more into literary festivals and events.

That is the situation of Czech literature inside Czechia, how would we describe how Czech literature is viewed outside? Is it known in the European markets? 

It depends on which country. We are very visible in German and German-speaking countries because of the tradition of exile, a lot of Czech writers from the ’60s and ‘70s went into exile to Germany. And after the success in Leipzig, when the Czech Republic was Guest of Honour at Leipzig Book Fair 2019, Germans and other Europeans again became very interested in our contemporary writers, and that has been good for this new generation of writers. However, it’s not the same situation in Anglo-Saxon countries, because there you are still fixed on reading writers from the 1960s, like Kundera, Hrabal and the older writers, and we can’t seem to change that. 

How do you think you can change that? I mean, if the UK market specifically is less open to new Czech writers?

It’s a very interesting and important question. Maybe you know the answer better than me. It’s very hard. We need help. We have tried to find individuals and ambassadors of Czech literature in the UK or the USA who know their markets and their readers better than us and can work with us. We’re trying very hard to find the festivals and get readings and present our literature in the Anglo-Saxon sphere.

How open do you feel that publishers or literary agents are, particularly in the UK market? Do you meet them, talk about Czech literature, about translations? Are they aware of all the grant possibilities? 

Yes, and we present to them the best we have. But for the US and UK it is always a question of profit, especially with the big publishing houses, it’s always about profit. It’s much more commercialized than here. They are not interested. It’s very difficult to break through. We know there are lots of independent publishers in the UK, and they are particularly strong on publishing translated literature. And they are seriously interested, they are more open-minded and independent. This is the only way we have. There are several international literary prizes open to translated literature in the UK, and they’re doing very well, like the International Booker Prize and then we’ve got the EBRD Prize, which Czech writer Bianca Bellová won with her translator Alex Zucker – those authors and translators become ambassadors of Czech literature. But it has to be more than one or two who are the face of Czech literature – they are wonderful but there are many more writers and publishers who deserve to be known. 

So what are your plans for Czechia 2026? What are you are your big ideas for Czech literature?

I can’t say anything until our plans are announced at Frankfurt Book Fair this October. It’s secret! But to be Guest of Honour at the largest and most important book fair in the world means that we will be at the centre of literary life internationally. Frankfurt is ofcourse a German-focused market but this opportunity creates a showcase and platform for us in countries all over the world and we need to build on that. So we will try to prepare for all those chances and how to follow up on them. 

If I’m to go back to the UK and say, “Look, I’m really excited about Czech literature,” which message or genre would you like me to take back?

Oh, this is a very difficult question, because it’s your decision, you know the British audience. But the market is full of surprises. Take comics for example. Comics are very important for the French, they’re so proud of their comics, and I was pretty sure that the Czechs would never break through with comics in France. But we did – and the French are reading Czech comics. We are appearing at French Comics festivals and winning lots of prizes. I was so surprised. So whatever you take back to Britain or like in Britain is your decision, and a matter of chance! We have good poets, good fiction, we have graphic novels – graphic novels are really popular in the UK after a slow start. So, working on our relations with publishers and writers in all European countries is part of our project now. We already have mutual agreements with the Germans,  Austrians, French and some Italians – Czech authors visit them and do readings, residencies and festivals, and they to us.

But do you have the same partnership with British authors?

Not yet, not enough, but this is something we would like to create. Let’s keep talking.