Emil Hakl
Jan Beneš, known professionally as Emil Hakl, is a Czech writer, who was born on 25th March 1958 in Prague).
He graduated from Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory, majoring first in composition and then he stayed and studied drama for two more years. He has worked as an arranger, librarian, warehouseman, petrol station staff and sound engineer. Between 1996 – 2000, he worked as a script writer for several advertisement companies and in 2001 as an editor for a fortnightly literary magazine Tvar. Nowadays, he is a journalist for a weekly magazine Instinkt. He lives in Prague.
Emil Hakl started in the eighties to write poetry and dramatize literary texts, which he staged for amateur companies. He is one of the founding fathers of the free literary association The Modern Illiterate (founded in 1988). The main purpose of this association was organising regular readings in clubs in and outside Prague. This was later followed by authorial readings in Literary club 8. He also collaborated with a literary club Pant.
He was publishing for these magazines: Iniciály, Tvar, Literární novinky, Aluze, Salon, magazine of Hospodářské noviny, Týden and Dobrá adresa (online). We can also find him in Anthologie de la poésie tchéque contemporaine 1945–2000 (Gallimard, Paris, 2002) and other collections.
He performs under his real name in some of his colleague's (Václav Kahuda) works, such as in a short story Technology of April's Evening.
Works
- Rozpojená slova, Mladá fronta, 1991 – sbírka básní [Disconnected Words – poetry]
- Zkušební trylky z Marsu, Cherm, 2000 – sbírka básní [Experimental Quavers from Mars – poetry]
- Konec světa, Argo, 2001 – povídky [The End of the World – short stories]
- Intimní schránka Sabriny Black, Argo, 2002 – román [Sabrina Black's Intimate Box – novel]
- O rodičích a dětech, Argo, 2002 – novela oceněná cenou Magnesia Litera [Of Kids & Parents – novel awarded with Magnesia Litera]
- O létajících objektech, Argo, 2004 – povídky [On Flying Objects – short stories]
- Let čarodějnice, Argo, 2008 – roman [Flight of the Witch]
- Pravidla směšného chování, Argo, 2010 [Rules of Ridiculous Behaviour]
- Intimní schránka Sabriny Black (Final Cut), Argo, 2010 – zcela přepracované vydání staršího románu [Sabrina Black's Intimate Box (Final Cut) – completely revised edition]
- Skutečná událost, Argo, 2013 [A True Story]
- Hovězí kostky, Argo, 2014 – povídky [Beef Cube – short stories]
- Umina verze, Argo, 2016 – román, fotografie Zuzana Lazarová [Uma's Version – novel, photography by Zuzana Lazarová]
- Výsek, Argo, 2018 – výběr z časopiseckých sloupků z Čilichili, rubrika Pavlač [Final Cut – selection of magazine columns from Čilichili, section Pavlač]
- A director Vladimír Michálek made a film based on the novel Of Kids & Parents.
Awards
- 2003 – Of Kids & Parents received Magnezia Litera
- 2010 – Rules of Ridiculous Behaviour placed second in The Book of the Year poll organised by Lidové noviny
- 2010 – Rules of Ridiculous Behaviour received The Josef Škvorecký Award
- 2011 – Rules of Ridiculous Behaviour received nomination for Magnezia Litera in prose category
- 2014 – A True Story received Magnezia Litera in original Czech prose category
Links
- List of works in The Union Catalogue of the Czech Republic, which are made by or are about Emil Hakl
- Emil Hakl in Dictionary of Czech Literature after 1945
- Profile on Czech Literature portal
11.10.2019 • Jury »