Stanislav Beran: An old-fashioned type

Born in 1977 in Jindřichův Hradec. He studied Czech language and history at the Faculty of Education of Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem. He began his career as a teacher; today he works as a manager in a pharmaceutical company. He made his debut as a poet with Zlodům (EvilHouse, 2002), and is now primarily a prose writer and author of children’s books. His most recent publications include Tam, kde štěkají kočky (Where Cats Bark, 2026), Strach nad řekou (Fear Above the River, 2024), Schrödingerův hotel (Schrödinger’s Hotel, 2023), Ztracený v povětří (Lost in Midair, 2023), and Kocovina (Hangover, 2019).

Speaking about his latest book in an interview for Czech Television ČT Art, he said: “The result is, I believe, a novel of an old-fashioned type, one that does not strive to experiment; at its centre are ordinary, believable characters, and the plot is set in a setting rendered as convincingly as possible. At the same time, however, it should not be flat or banal.”