Poet

A Novel and Ivan Blatny

The book won the Magnesia Litera Book of the Year 2015

Martin Reiner has been studying the poetry and fate of the poet Ivan Blatný (1919-1990) for thirty years. He was the author of the script of the first television documentary about Blatný and dozens of newspaper articles and radio programmes, he was behind the transfer of Blatný's estate from London to the Memorial of National Literature, he organised the ceremonial deposition of Blatný's remains at the Brno Nightingale and he was also instrumental in the placement of the poet's memorial plaque at his birthplace in the Obilní trh. In 2000, he began work on a novel about the poet's extraordinary life story. Blatný first experienced great literary fame in Czechoslovakia, then, after his emigration to England in March 1948, a complete downfall and an attempt to erase his name from Czech literary history.

Reiner's novel is a riveting text that explores not only the poet's life, but also the literary context, times and places in which Ivan Blatný lived. Here we learn a lot about the literary life of the First Republic, as well as interesting details of the friendship between Blatny, Orten, Kainar, Chalupecky, Nezval and others. We will look into the Protectorate years and the horrors of the Heydrichiad. After Blatný's emigration, we get the opportunity to learn about the intrigues that the Czech political exile lived for many years, as well as the activities of communist agents abroad. Nor do we leave the poet in the lunatic asylums in which he spent most of the forty years of his life in England.

The book is packed with previously unknown information, but at the same time it is strongly emotional. The life of Ivan Blatný is one of the great Czech destinies of the 20th century. Reiner's book speaks about him in a sovereign way.

The author is a laureate of the Josef Škvorecký Book Prize.