Martin M. Šimečka

writer, journalist and commentator

Martin M. Šimečka (* 1957) is a Slovak writer and columnist of Czech origin. He is the son of the philosopher and dissident Milan Šimečka. After the Velvet Revolution, he became one of the leading figures in the Czech-Slovak cultural and public discourse. He founded the publishing house Archa and later served as editor-in-chief of the Czech weekly Respekt. Since 2016 he has written for the Slovak daily Denník N. He made his literary debut with the novel The Year of the Frog, for which he won the 1988 Jiří Orten Award as well as the 1994 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for its English translation. His other works include Medzi Slovákmi (Among the Slovaks, 2017) and Telesná výchova (Physical Education, 2020). He has long been a prominent voice drawing attention to the threats facing democracy and independent journalism in Slovakia, and in 2024 he received the František Kriegel Award for civic courage. In his latest book, Výjimečný stav: Jak dobře žít ve zlých časech (State of Emergency: How to Live Well in Bad Times, 2025), he draws on his experience as a dissident and reflects on how to preserve freedom, friendship, and civic responsibility in a society that is turning away from democracy.