Simona Racková: City, dances, dogs
 – Czechia



Born in 1976 in Prague, she studied Czech language and literature at the Faculty of Arts at Charles University. Poetess, journalist, and editor. She works as and editor of the literary magazine Tvar. Institut posledních očí at the Větrné mlýny publishing house. She has been an editor of the yearbook Sto nejlepších českých básní 2012 (One Hundred of the Best Czech Poems 2012, 2012), and a co-editor of the two-volume Antologie české poezie 1966–2006 (Anthology of Czech Poetry 1966–2006, 2007, 2009). Her published poetry collections include Přítelkyně (Friends, 2007), Město, které není (The City That Isn't, 2009), Tance (Dances, 2015), Zatímco hlídací psi spí (While the Watchdogs Sleep, 2017), Noční převádění mláďat (Nocturnal Moving of the Young, 2021). She also published a book for young people, Papírová kočka (A Paper Cat, 2022). In 2016, she received the Dresden Lyric Prize. In her free time, she has been dancing since she was thirteen, nowadays she is partial to flamenco.

(foto © Maki Pištěková)