Product details
- ISBN 9788024662671
- Weight: 454g
- Dimensions: 130 x 200mm
- Publication Date: 04 Sep 2026
- Publisher: Karolinum,Nakladatelstvi Univerzity Karlovy,Czech Republic
- Publication City/Country: CZ
- Product Form: Paperback
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Romani writers from former Czechoslovakia offer their history and perspective in this important collection that fills a gap in world literature.
As representatives of an oral culture, the Romani people have throughout history been the subject of stories written by outsiders. Sometimes idealized, often defamed, and even condemned, they have seldom been accurately portrayed by the majority of writers. It has only been in the last century that the Roma have finally started writing for themselves.
The fifteen Romani writers from former Czechoslovakia featured in this anthology speak of the people, times, and places they particularly hold dear. Although the roads of the Roma have always been paved with disrespect, discrimination, and vicious racial persecution by mainstream societies, these stories frequently talk about the good things in life. Be it the writers’ homes in the traditional settlements of rural Eastern Slovakia, the Czech industrial towns where the families moved after WWII in search of a better life, or the bustling cities of the post-transition period, they demonstrate immense pride in their Romani identity, love of their Romani language, and heartfelt respect for their elders. Velvet Blues provides a very different picture from the stock character of “the Gypsy” so common in world literature.
Karolína Ryvolová is a Romani studies scholar and editor specializing in Roma culture, literature, and history. Alex Zucker has translated novels by Czech authors Petra Hůlová, Jáchym Topol, Magdaléna Platzová, Tomáš Zmeškal, Josef Jedlička, Heda Margolius Kovály, Patrik Ouředník, and Miloslava Holubová. His translation of Topol’s The Devil’s Workshop received the English PEN Award for Writing in Translation. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.
