Tomáš Zmeškal (born 1966) is a Czech writer. He was born in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

to a Congolese father and a Czech mother. In 1987, he left the then-

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

to live in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, where he studied English language and literature at

King's College King's College or The King's College refers to two higher education institutions in the United Kingdom: *King's College, Cambridge, a constituent of the University of Cambridge *King's College London, a constituent of the University of London It ca ...

. He returned after the collapse of communism.Interview
/ref> He taught at

Charles University ) , image_name = Carolinum_Logo.svg , image_size = 200px , established = , type = Public, Ancient , budget = 8.9 billion CZK , rector = Milena Králíčková , faculty = 4,057 , administrative_staff = 4,026 , students = 51,438 , undergr ...

for a while, and currently teaches in high school. Zmeškal was lauded for his debut novel ''Milostný dopis klínovým písmem'' (''Love Letter in Cuneiform Script''), published in 2008. The book won the

EU Prize for Literature The European Union Prize for Literature (EUPL), established in 2009, is a European Union literary award. Its aim is to recognise outstanding new literary talents from all over Europe, to promote the circulation and translation of literature among ...

and the Josef Škvorecký Prize. He has published two other books since. In the 1980s, he was a member of the band Psí vojáci, led by Filip Topol. Zmeškal now lives in Prague.

Works

* ''Milostný dopis klínovým písmem'', Torst 2008, Praha, * ''Životopis černobílého jehněte'', Torst 2009, * ''Sokrates na rovníku'', Mishkezy 2013,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zmeskal, Tomas 1966 births Living people Writers from Prague Czech novelists Czech people of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent Czech male novelists Czech male writers Academic staff of Charles University Czech schoolteachers Alumni of King's College London