The longlisted nominations include five books by authors from our literary agency – Michal Ajvaz, Emma Kausc, Petra Klabouchová, Vilém Koubek and Marie Domská – in two categories: the Luxor Litera for prose and the Litera for fantasy.
Luxor litera for prose
The latest novel by Michal Ajvaz, one of the most frequently translated and highly acclaimed contemporary Czech authors, Passages / Pasáže, and the prose debut by poet Emma Kausc, Plot Disruption / Narušení děje, have both made it through to the prose nominations. Emma Kausc's autofictional novel primarily explores the potential for language and narrative to act as a means for coping with painful events. Plot Disruption is also currently shortlisted for the Literary Critics Award and presented in the New Czech Books 2024 selection catalogue, compiled every year by the Czech Literary Centre.
What the jury said about Passages by Michal Ajvaz:
Nothingness as the source of stories, the search for the origin of inspiration, literature and philosophy as a mutual mirroring, a double helix of paths to a common goal... In the novel Passages, the author returns to the themes of his previous books, but it is not a mechanical repetition. It is a development, a continuation of the journey through the labyrinth of the human mind, which remains unique in Czech literature.
What the jury said about Plot Disruption by Emma Kausc:
With extraordinary self-confidence, Plot Disruption deliberately and knowingly teeters on the edge of literary exhibitionism. In associatively linked, intertwining plot lines, interspersed with essayistic passages, the author explores the nature of her own memory and the potential of narrative. It deals with personal and social matters, the war in Ukraine, LGBTQ+ issues, the climate crisis and more, while moving confidently in various environments and locations around the world, such as London, the USA and Iceland.
Litera for fantasy
We have a strong presence in the fantasy section. The jury included a story from magical Šumava, Ignis fatuus by Petra Klabouchová, in the longlisted nominations for this category. Last year it crossed the bestseller threshold (with 10,000 copies sold). Are will-o'-the wisps also going to get the better of the jury? Or will they be outshone by Vilém Koubek's atmospheric Urbex novel, Hammering Nails / Zatloukání hřebů, which also plays with ideas of what is real and what is supernatural? For the first book in the extensive sci-fi adventure series Kchrat: Unclear Boundaries / Nejasné hranice, Marie Domská, a multiple winner of the Karel Čapek Genre Prize, is now nominated for the Magnesia Litera in the fantasy genre.
What the jury said about Ignis fatuus by Petra Klabouchová:
This haunting horror draws on Šumava paranormal stories and the 1970s totalitarian atmosphere in the border zone. The mystique of the ancient landscape and the oppressive Communist era are combined by the author's rich language into a psychedelic nightmare; what are more frightening, however, are the ghosts in the psyches of the main characters.
What the jury said about Hammering Nails by Vilém Koubek:
Koubek's genre shift towards horror combines Urbex and amateur documentary videos in the spirit of The Blair Witch Mystery. The protagonist, Ema, has to return to her inherited family home, where she is awaited by memories of her long-lost brother and her father, who was obsessed with searching for his lost son. The creeping horror teeters between the heroine's gradually crumbling psyche and the possibility that supernatural forces are at work.
What the jury said about Kchrat: Unclear Boundaries / Nejasné hranice by Marie Domská:
This novel is part of a series named after its alien protagonist. The space-opera genre paradigm creates the framework for the confrontation between two different races and civilizations – as humans and the very inhuman-looking Shachtrans meet and compete. Against a backdrop of alternating timelines, it poses existential questions that transcend the action-pached plot.
Congratulations to all nominated authors and fingers crossed for the next round.
The shortlisted nominations will be announced at a press conference on 18 March and the award ceremony will take place on Thursday 24 April in the traditional live ČT art broadcast.
More information on the Magnesia Litera Book Awards can be found HERE.
7. 3. 2025
