Pinoy-penned books to be translated into Czech under deal

Philippine-Czech ties in culture and the arts are expected to be strengthened further with the recent launch of a new translation-exchange program between the two countries. 

Spearheaded by the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWP) and the Czech Embassy in Manila, the two parties will begin the translation and publication of three Czech books into Filipino and, later, three books by Filipino writers into Czech.

The memorandum of understanding, signed by Virgilio S. Almario, National Artist for Literature and KWP chairman, and Czech Ambassador Jaroslav Olša Jr., is recognized as a momentous development, as it is the first of its kind in the history of Philippine-Czech relations.

For the first joint project under this agreement, the KWP is set to publish a book-length selection of the best poems of Nobel-winning Czech poet Jaroslav Seifert. This will mark the second time a work by a Czech writer is translated and published in the Philippines; the first was the late Czech President Václav Havel’s drama Memorandum, translated as Ang Memorandum and published in Manila in 1990.

“As our part of (the) deal, a selection of short fiction and poems by (Filipino) writers will be published under the title ‘Literatura ng Pilipinas (Literature of the Philippines)’ by the Czech literary monthly Plav,“ Olša said.

Published in mid-August, a special issue of this magazine presented Philippine classics, as well as brand new Filipino talents, to Czech readers. This will be followed by another anthology of modern Filipino fiction writers sometime next year.