Author Nominee: Czech Republic

Iva Procházková
Czech Republic, Author

We all know children as readers are impatient and that they don't like overly descriptive passages and so on, which can lead some authors to try too hard to be entertaining. You have to find a balance. Above all, the style must serve the story: not just entertain.

– Iva Procházková

Although born in Olomouc in Czechoslovakia in 1953, Iva Procházková spent most of her childhood in Prague. She received her schooling at J Neruda Grammar School, but for political reasons, she could not continue her education at university. Instead, she worked as a cleaner. As an author and uncompromising public figure, her father, Jan Procházka, a Czech novelist and screenwriter who also wrote for young readers and who was one of the opposition leaders during the Prague Spring of 1968, was persecuted by the communist regime.

In 1983 Iva Procházková and her husband were forced to flee Czechoslovakia, first to Vienna and later to Germany. Following the Velvet Revolution of 1989 she returned to live and work in Prague.

Her earliest writings were banned or 'postponed' for political reasons; these included 'Venus Hill', a play for young people, which was staged at the Realistic Theatre in Prague before it was banned. Following her move to Austria she wrote for the puppet theatre with which she and her husband went on tour. Her book Der Sommer hat Eselsohren [The summer has donkey's ears] was published in Germany in 1984 and was shortlisted for the German Young People's Literature Prize. Subsequently in 1989, she won this prestigious award with Die Zeit der geheimen Wünsche [The season of secret wishes), and has since won many other awards for her writing.

She writes in Czech and her books have always been published in both German and Czech, and they have also been translated into many other languages. While rooted in her own experiences, her work deals with contemporary themes that have universal appeal. Dr Jana Čeñková writes: 'In stories with a fairy-tale touch and socially-conscious prose for children she wrestles with profound issues such as the problems surrounding authoritarian upbringing, the simple yearning of a child for its grandparents or a person that is close, growing up in today's world, relationships in broken families, and perceptions of death and mortality. It is usually through dialogue that Procházková brings her creative outlook on the upbringing of children into the story.'