Radovan Brenkus (born 30 January 1974, Bardejov) is a Slovak writer, translator and critic.

Biography

The author finished the study at Science faculty of P. J. Šafárik University, in mathematics and physics. He worked as a teacher in

Košice Košice ( , ; german: Kaschau ; hu, Kassa ; pl, Коszyce) is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of app ...

, later as a specialist worker at the Institute of Experimental Physics of Slovak Academy of Sciences. He publishes in journals at home and abroad.

Slovak Radio Slovak may refer to: * Something from, related to, or belonging to Slovakia (''Slovenská republika'') * Slovaks, a Western Slavic ethnic group * Slovak language, an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages * Slovak, Arka ...

broadcast a lot of his works, which have been published in international anthologies. He translates works from Polish and occasionally undertakes

literary criticism Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

, writing a critical studies and essays. The author works in publishing house Pectus in

, which was founded in 2006.

Creation

Brenkus is a continuator of literary modernism. In the field of poetry, he observes, analyses and decrypts the chaotic tired world, denounces the prevailing moral circumstances, the differences in its perception from without and within. The inspiratory sources are destructive emptiness, nothingness, limiting pseudo-being. By a symbology of pessimism and decadence, he shows the loneliness of the individual, his more worsening condition and uncertain future. The motive of his prose is a search for the meaning of existence, awareness of transience, death. Among other things, Brenkus writes in neo-romantic style, as well as criticizes existentialism and the civilization progress which forces a human to find his own survival instinct. Surrealistic characters in author's stories are torn between the ideal and the real, and disturb an accepted order. Through expressive and mystical

symbol A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different conc ...

ism, dramatic and grotesque scenes, Brenkus displays rebellion against

elitism Elitism is the belief or notion that individuals who form an elite—a select group of people perceived as having an intrinsic quality, high intellect, wealth, power, notability, special skills, or experience—are more likely to be constructi ...

and decline of contemporary society. He provides a space for catharsis in the condensed and equally distinctive characteristics of the situations and characters.

Works

Poetry

*1997 – ''March of the Dead'' *2002 – ''Requiem in the Dust'' *2005 – ''Romance with a will-o'-the-wisp'' *2009 – ''Smoke from the Realm of Shadows'' *2015 – ''Dreaming with a Beast (2017, in Polish)''

Prose

*2005 – ''Hell Returns (2013, in Polish)'', short-story collection

Translations

*2008 – ''Zbigniew Domino: Polish Siberiada'' *2009 – ''Rafał Wojaczek: Letters for Dead Man'' *2010 – ''Marta Świderska-Pelinko: Taste of Wandering and Eden'' *2017 – ''Marta Świderska-Pelinko: Where the Violin Cries'' *2020 – ''Janusz Korczak: Children of the Street'' *2021 – ''Aldona Borowicz: Stained Glasses in Memory'' *2023 – ''Maria Konopnicka: Under the Law''

References

External links

Album of the Slovak Writers
( sk)
Personal profile
( sk, en) {{DEFAULTSORT:Brenkus, Radovan 1974 births People from Bardejov Slovak writers Slovak translators Slovak poets Living people