Michal Šanda: A sink full of blues
– Czechia
Born in 1965 in Prague, he attended the Jan Neruda Grammar School in Prague's Malá Strana. Since 1991 he has been an archivist at the Arts and Theatre Institute. He writes poetry, prose, books for children and youth, plays for theater and radio. He has published over thirty books. The vast majority of his work is encompassed in the thousand-page collected volume Generál v umyvadle plném blues (General in a Sink Full of Blues, 2022). When asked what comes to his mind when hearing the words general, sink, and blues, he said: "The Blue booklet. The worn enamel sink on the kitchen table into which my grandpa poured boiling water on Saturday afternoons and ceremoniously shaved himself with a razor on the kitchen table before heading out to play cards. And the blues – for me, it is Son House and his song 'Pearline'."