Juraj Šebesta: Through the theatre to ourselves

 – Slovakia

Juraj Šebesta (* 1964) debuted with a collection of short stories Triezvenie (Sobering up), which was also published in Serbia and Macedonia, and several texts in anthologies and magazines in Serbian, Sorbian, Croatian, Hungarian, Bulgarian and Russian. Šebesta’s novels for teenagers and adults Keď sa pes smeje (When the Dog Laughs) and Venussha (Ťažký týždeň) (Venussha. A Hard Week) received special recognition: the Zlatá hruška – The Best Translated Novel for Young People in 2019 in Slovenia, an Honourable Mention on the IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) list, the final of the Anasoft litera competition, the Zlatý Gunár – Kremnické gagy or White Ravens Internationale Jugendbibliothek in Munich. Both novels were published in Czech, and both were dramatized by the author for the Ludus Theatre.

Slovak Radio presented his play Kuleha, and the P. O. Hviezdoslav Theatre in Bratislava performed Bratislava by Night. He also wrote Bájky (Fables) and the novel Hevíz 2090. Láska kedysi a dnes (Hevíz 2090. Love Once and Now). He translates plays from English for Slovakian theatres; the University of Constantine the Philosopher in Nitra published his monograph Cesta prekladu dlhým dňom do noci (The Journey of Translation through the Long Day to the Night). His most recent book for teenagers is Sme divadelníci. Divadelný román v štyroch dejstvách s prológom a epilógom (We Are Theatre People. A Theatre Novel in Four Acts with a Prologue and an Epilogue).