Jáchym Topol: Does hell exist?

Born in 1962 in Prague. The grandson of the writer Karel Schulz, the son of the playwright and poet Josef Topol, and the brother of the musician Filip Topol. He emerged from the underground of the 1970s and 1980s. He began with poetry collections Miluju tě k zbláznění (I Love You Madly, 1991) and V úterý bude válka (There Will Be War on Tuesday, 1992). He worked as a journalist (Revolver Revue, Respekt, Lidové noviny) and wrote song lyrics (for Czech bands Psí vojáci and Načeva). One of the most influential practitioners of local literary postmodernism and the author of the novels Sestra (Sister, 1994), Noční práce (Night Work, 2001), Kloktat dehet (Gargling with Tar, 2005), Citlivý člověk (A Sensitive Man, 2017), and most recently Peklo neexistuje (Hell Does Not Exist, 2026). In his prose, he paints a dramatic picture of Central Europe, torn by the endless conflict between the individual and the collective, untreated traumas and self-reflection, freedom and bondage.

foto © Petr Kalaš