… is a new book by Prague-based poet Eva Frantinová. In an unconventional, narrow format of three hundred pages, it reveals the author's long-standing relationship with the poet, translator, writer, and journalist Karel Sýs. The two were deeply connected through their creative endeavors. This collection of poems and observations, written by a leading contemporary Czech poet, tells the story of their shared creative journey and collaboration, spanning from 1975 to 2024, primarily written in the first person.

A Glimpse

When a significant member of the poetic generation, known as the "thirty-five group" (a term coined by Professor Milan Blahynka in his book of the same name to describe a group of outstanding creators including Sýs, Černík, Žáček, and others), passed away last year, Eva Frantinová decided to preserve the creative legacy of Karel Sýs. She has been organizing literary evenings and discussions about his work, and she was instrumental in establishing the K.S. Library in the center of Prague, as well as exhibitions of his work, not only in Sýs's hometown of Kostelec nad Orlicí. Her unwavering dedication to preserving the name of this important poet from the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries is exemplified by the publication of her autobiographical work, "A Glimpse."

Following this, a unique and previously unpublished collection of Sýs's last poems will be released. This collection of unknown poems by this great author will be a limited-edition bibliophile print, and the numbered copies will undoubtedly become collector's items. The Prague publisher František Mareš has taken on the publication of this work, as the first title in the planned Karel Sýs Poetry Series, intended for young and emerging authors. The ailing Karel Sýs, sensing his impending end, entrusted this final work to Frantinová with the hope that she would eventually bring it to the world.

She thus became the executor of his will, and as the editor, she also participated in the final editing of the manuscript, as Sýs had not completed several poems or was hesitant between different versions. Eva Frantinová approached this challenging task with her characteristic sensitivity and deep knowledge of Sýs's work, allowing her to understand the nuances and intentions behind his words. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

A Few Words of Introduction

Eva Frantinová entered the literary scene in 1975, initially publishing in newspapers and magazines, and then in books from 1979. She met Karel Sýs at the Tvorba magazine, where the established author, who was also involved in public life, recognized Eva's talent and began to mentor her. During this collaboration, their long-standing relationship developed, which lasted until Karel's death in 2024. They spent time together, laughed and cried, and rejoiced, but above all, they created together. They had their own games of words and phrases, for which they used a large number of notebooks to record their ideas and what eventually emerged from them.

Milan Blahynka: A Closer Look

“This is a book about Karel and Eva. Both have musical roots in their family history. Both have a love for their ancestors, their family, their parents, and their extended family. Both families were ravaged by the Holocaust. This tragedy is deeply ingrained in their memories. Both have an exceptional memory. Both possess keen observation skills, a broad perspective, and a sense for telling details…” We quote from the insightful afterword by Professor Blahynka (born 1933), a leading Czech literary theorist, reviewer, and critic.

Instead of an Introduction

On the first page, Eva Frantinová welcomes the curious reader with her explanation:
“Why 'Na přeskáčku'? Why not in order? We didn't go in order, year after year. And the words of the poems certainly didn't. They jump around as they please – and eventually they come together to form patterns, like those we see in rare carpets. Just like life with us – jumping, skipping. From dream to dream, from wall to wall, from path to path, from thirst to a wellspring… That's why the memories in this book 'refuse to change their shoes!'”

As the pages turn, the reader is literally overwhelmed by a torrent of poetry in prose. Fragments and snippets, many of which are notebook-like, eventually paint a picture of the lives and relationships of not only Karel and Eva, but also introduce many readers to a previously unknown world of Czech literature of that time, free from carelessness.

“The poet burst into tears: 'I know I don't belong here, that I'm not meant to be here, that I'm crazy. Do people who live normally always write in a notebook? I know I don't belong here...' We cried together in early August 2017, in a garden restaurant in Braník…”

Ulrika and Goethe

In addition to exploring the landscapes of their hearts, their creative struggles, and their reflections on family members who perished in concentration camps, Eva Frantinová adds observations and commentary from the circle of Sýs' friends and collaborators – journalists, poets, writers, and painters, including experiences from joint foreign travels. It's a shame that these individuals are not professionally identified, so the reader knows who is who.

This minor editorial error, however, cannot diminish the overall impact of this autobiography, in which the author bares her soul. There is no doubt that the book "Na přeskáčku" will spark investigative journalism, and tabloid journalists in particular will begin to inquire about the intimate details of the author's relationship with a man of unwavering character, who, unlike many others, did not change his political allegiance with the changing regimes, and who is worthy of the epithet "poet without fear or shame."

In the concluding chapters of the memoir about Karel Sýs, Frantinová describes their last days together through essays titled "Osud" (Fate), "Poslední esemesky" (Last Text Messages), and "Vyhnání" (Exile). The ultimate touch is her five-page poem, "Nářek" (Lament). This remarkable memoir, published by the KMEN publishing house in Brno with the support of the Czech Foundation 2000, is accompanied by drawings by Vojtěch Kolařík, the "court painter" of Sýs, with the illustration on the back cover being particularly noteworthy, a work that the illustrator dedicated to Karel Sýs on his seventy-fifth birthday.

Curriculum Vitae

Karel Sýs was born on July 26, 1946, in Rychnov nad Kněžnou. He died on July 29, 2024, in Prague, where he lived and worked. He studied at the University of Economics and later worked at the Art Centrum visual arts center. He then worked as an editor at the weekly magazine "Tvorba." Among other things, he was the editor-in-chief of the literary weekly "Svaz českých spisovatelů Kmen." In the spring of 1989, he was awarded the title of "Meritorious Artist."

After November 1989, he faced difficulties stemming from his membership in the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, his former positions, and his political views, which he did not change. After months of various manual labor jobs and the inability to publish, he eventually became the leading editor of the weekly literary supplement "Haló" of the newspaper "Naše pravda LUK" (literature-Art-Culture). In 2000, he founded the Union of Czech Writers, of which he was the chairman until 2024.

This talented and exceptionally hardworking author published dozens of volumes of poetry and several prose works covering a wide range of topics, including non-fiction. In his later works, particularly those published independently, he was a scathing critic of the political situation in the Czech Republic. Among the satirical collections, we can mention "Bordel v Čechách" (Brothel in Bohemia), "Vymknuta z kloubů" (Dislocated), "Snědený stát" (The Devoured State), and "Pravda přijde později" (The Truth Will Come Later). Translations of his poems were published in various countries at the end of the millennium, and he also translated works by world authors into Czech, such as Apollinaire, Rimbaud, and Verlaine. In 2018, Karel Sýs received the Medal for Meritorious Service, first class, from the President of the Republic, Miloš Zeman.

Eva Frantinová was born on September 4, 1956, in Prague. From 1970 to 1977, she studied violin at the conservatory, but soon began to focus on poetry. She has been publishing her work in journals since 1975 ("Tvorba," "Literární měsíčník," "Obrys-Kmen," "LUK," "Host," "Salon práva," and "Divoké víno"). She has published books since 1970, making her debut with the collection of poems "Noc bez krajnic" (Night Without Borders) published by Mladá Fronta. She is the author of sixteen collections of poetry and nine books of prose, including "Vteřinové romány" (Second-by-Second Novels), "Pod pokličkou" (Under the Lid), "Hladce a obrace" (Smoothly and Backwards), and "Nehybný ráj" (Immobile Paradise). In 2000, she was awarded the K. H. Mácha Prize by the Masaryk Academy for her collection of poems "Vzkaz bosé stopy" (Message of the Bare Foot), and in the same year, she received the Union of Czech Writers Prize for her collections of poems "Kapesní déšť" (Pocket Rain) and "Z hvězdy pod okap" (From the Star Under the Eaves).

Ivan Černý