I was awarded Tatra Banka Art Prize 2010 – Young Creator for the new novel Dunaj v Amerike (Danube in America). Thank you very much! I will get the prize at the event 20th of November 2010 in the Slovak National Theatre. Tatra Banka Foundation rewards outstanding performances in Slovak arts for fifteen years.
I spend most of my time these days finalizing my new book. It is a story about a young literary translator and his femme fatale on the river cruise on the Danube, from Regensburg all the way to Sulina in Eastern Romania – on the luxury ship full of very very old and rich American people. The final draft is due to be delivered in March and the novel will be published in May 2010 by Albert Marenčin.
The cover was created my long-time creative partner Mikina Dimunova, who now lives and works in Paris. In order to finish this book on deadline, I’ve drastically cut down on travels and speaking. But May and June I will be on the reading tour in Slovakia for three weeks. I am already looking forward to it!
On the cover of the novel and inside you will find the photographs by Johann Eilingsfeld
Walking by the Danube in Bratislava, I discovered a couple of abandoned tanks, assault guns and military vehicles. Which fits my army best?
See also: The dirtiest room in Brăila
While researching for my novel, I keep on discovering amazing photos of the river. This collection is from the forgotten captain and photographer Johann Eilingsfeld and was created from 1915 till 1929.
Eilingsfeld was born in 1877 in Mözs in Hungary. He worked on the steamboats and private ships all his life, starting the career in 1905 as a sailor, finally reaching the highest rank of the first captain in 1912. Read the article.
The only information stand near Baba Vida castle in Vidin, Bulgaria. See also: The dirtiest room in Brăila and On the Danube
Since Friday July 24th 2009 I am on the tour again: from Bratislava to the Danube Delta. On the ship, by car and on foot – I will be researching for the new novel I am currently writing.
If you don’t hear from me much these days, I’m not being rude, just hiding away to work.
Couple of days ago I discovered another great Danube photo. This one was shot by the famous Czech photographer Josef Koudelka in the year 1994 in Romania. The broken statue of Lenin takes its last voyage on a barge. Location: shooting of the film Ulysse’s Gaze, directed by Theo Angelopoulos.
Michal Hvorecky 