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Angola

Publications related to Angola.
I lived and worked in Angola as an assistant to Commercial Counselor of the Czechoslovak Embassy in the years 1977 to 1982. In a country that has just declared independence, life was very different from the life  we were used to in Czechoslovakia. Besides difficulties with getting organized life necessities, there was always a latent danger which hanged over us because of the ever present civil war.


Military guards at the bridge over river Quanza

It was necessary to adapt and use these years as best as I could - in the spirit of my scale of  values ​​which I did not want to abandon and which did not change much with years:  traveling , reading  and publishing have always been at the forefront. Therefore, also in Angola, after I learned Portuguese, I tried to participate in  cultural life of the country and get acquainted with the creative activities of local writers who were highly acclaimed by Angolian state.   A known poet and writer Agostinho Neto became President of the People's Republic of Angola. He influenced the cultural atmosphere in Luanda in the first years after the revolution, besides him many ministers belonged to the intellectual elite and were themselves writers.

They began to write not only about the history but also about the post-revolutionary situation in Angola. One of the best was Manuel Rui with whom we became friends. We followed his invitation to a visit in his  home town in the south of Angola,  Lubango.  This friendship became one of the most important factors during my stay  both in terms of deeper understanding of the country and in terms of creativity. I started to translate Manuel's short stories and to promote his books in Europe, I attended a conference of Afro-Asian Writers in Luanda and discovered new possibilities that my life in Angola could offer. At this time the main source of information on the world literature in Czechoslovakia were magazines World Literature and Literary Monthly, in which I had the opportunity to publish.


1997 - in Luanda flat, meeting of Czechoslovakian and Portuguese specialists  in Alto Catumbela

List of published articles and translations related to Angola:

1.     K vývoji angolské poezie. Literární měsíčník 10/1978, str. 123 – 124 –

To the Development od Poetry in Angola

2.     Ocenění angolské literatuře (Maria Eugenia Neto). Literární měsíčník 10/1979, s.123 Award to a book by Maria Eugenia Neto

3.     Angolská literatura po vyhlášení nezávislosti. Světová literatura 6/1979, str. 247-9

The Literature of Angola after Declaration of Independance

4.     Život a dílo Agostinha Neta. Literární měsíčník 2/1980, str. 119.

Life and Work of Agostinho Neto

5.     Představujeme: Lotus. Literární měsíčník 2/1980 str. 126

Presentation of Lotus magazine

6.     Šestá konference afro-asijských spisovatelů. Světová literatura 5/1980, str. 243-244

6th Conference of Afro-Asian Writers

7.     Vzpomínka na moře (Manuel Rui: Memória de Mar)Světová literatura 2/1983,str. 248-9

Memory of the Sea (by Manuel Rui)

8.     Slunce opravdu žhavé (Žhavé slunce nad Angolou Alice Veselé). Literární měsíčník 10/1984, str. 138 - Hot Sun over Angola (by Alice Veselá)

9.     Tradice v literatuře Angolské lidové republiky. Literární měsíčník 2/1985, str. 143-144

10.  Tradition in Literature of People´s Republic of Angola

11.  Tři generace mosambických básníků. Světová literatura 1/1985, str. 253-254

Three Generations of Poets of Mozambique

Translations from Portuguese into Czech:

Manuel Rui: Bez penze nebo s penzí. Světová literatura 1/82, str. 155 – 165

No Board or full Board  (a short story, Portuguese original  Com ou sem   

Pensao from a story collection Regresso Adiado – 1973)

Manuel Rui: Kéž bych se mohl stát vlnou. Světová literatura 3/88, str. 166-188

If I Could only Become a Wave, in Portuguese original Quem me Dera ser Onda 

As all these articles and translations  were published in Czech, the links to them are contained only in the Czech version of the webpage.


South Angola - females from the tribe Umbundu, moon landscape around Luand