Jan Skácel (7 February 1922 in Vnorovy – 7 November 1989 in

Brno Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...

) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

of Moravian origin, widely acclaimed as one of the best poets who had been writing in

. He often juxtaposed the fear stoked by the

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

regime in

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

and the highly free syntax of Czech language. His poems are closely connected to the traditions and the nature of the region he lived in, Southern Moravia. His poems were mentioned in the book

Ignorance Ignorance is a lack of knowledge and understanding. The word "ignorant" is an adjective that describes a person in the state of being unaware, or even cognitive dissonance and other cognitive relation, and can describe individuals who are unaware o ...

written by

Milan Kundera Milan Kundera (, ; born 1 April 1929) is a Czech writer who went into exile in France in 1975, becoming a naturalised French citizen in 1981. Kundera's Czechoslovak citizenship was revoked in 1979, then conferred again in 2019. He "sees himself ...

. Skácel was the editor of ''Host do domu'', an important

literary magazine A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry, and essays, along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letter ...

between 1963 and 1969. He was awarded the German international literary

Petrarca-Preis Petrarca-Preis was a European literary and translation award named after the Italian Renaissance poet Francesco Petrarca or Petrarch. Founded in 1975 by German art historian and publisher Hubert Burda, it was primarily designed for contemporary ...

and Slovenian international Vilenica prize in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

. When in 1996 she won the Georg-Büchner Prize for literature, the German poet Sarah Kirsch named Skácel as a major influence.

Works

Poetry

*''Kolik příležitostí má růže'' Prague, 1957 (How many chances the rose has) *''Co zbylo z anděla'' Prague, 1960 (What remained of angel) *''Hodina mezi psem a vlkem'' Prague, 1962 (An hour between dog and wolf) *''Smuténka'' Prague, 1965 (title is neologism with root "smutný" = sad, it associates botanic name) *''Vítr jménem Jaromír'' Prague, 1966 (Wind called Jaromír) *''Metličky'' Prague, 1968 (Little whisks) *''Tratidla'' Brno, 1974 (neologism with root "tratit" = to lose, it associates toponyme) *''Dávné proso'' Brno, 1981 (Ancient Millet) *''Naděje s bukovými křídly'' Prague, 1983 (Hope with Wings of Beech) *''Odlévání do ztraceného vosku'' Brno, 1984 (

Lost-wax casting Lost-wax casting (also called "investment casting", "precision casting", or ''cire perdue'' which has been adopted into English from the French, ) is the process by which a duplicate metal sculpture (often silver, gold, brass, or bronze) is ...

) *''Kdo pije potmě víno'' Brno, 1988 (Drinker of wine in the dark) *''A znovu láska'' Brno, 1991 (Love again)

Prose

*''Jedenáctý bílý kůň'' Brno 1966 (The eleventh white horse) *''Třináctý černý kůň'' Brno 1993 (The thirteenth black horse)

References

* 1922 births 1989 deaths People from Hodonín District Czech poets Czech male poets 20th-century Czech poets 20th-century male writers Masaryk University alumni Czechoslovak writers {{CzechRepublic-writer-stub