How rosy or hopeful is contemporary Czech prose and poetry? This debate among the younger generation of literary critics: Barbora Vacková, Kryštof Mec and Jan Musil. Hosted by Blanka Činátlová. In collaboration with the Literary Critics Award.

Kryštof Mec studied literature and intercultural communication at the Faculty of Arts of Masaryk University in Brno and is currently a doctoral student in the Theory and History of Czech Literature programme at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Ostrava, where he focuses on Poetist prose. He helps organise events for the student association Bohemistický stře;ník, where, among other things, he curates the lecture series Básnictvo o poezii (Poets on Poetry). As a literary critic, he writes primarily about contemporary Czech poetry and prose for the magazines Host and A2. His essay Padesát let autofikce v české literature (Fifty Years of Autofiction in Czech Literature), written together with Zuzana Fonioková, was published by the Czech Literary Centre in 2026.

Jan Musil studied Czech, English, and comparative literature at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University in Prague. He went on to earn a PhD and has completed scholarship programmes and research internships in Leipzig, Vienna, Cambridge, and London. He translates from English and German to Czech, serves as an editor for the monthly world literature magazine Plav, and contributes to Czech and international literary and academic journals. He also previously worked as a secondary school teacher. He is the author of the poetry collections Poslední život: Bildungspoema z minulosti a budoucnosti (Last Life: A Bildungspoem from the Past and the Future, 2025) and Mami (Mom, 2026).

Barbora Vacková studies comparative literature and interpreting at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University. Her current research focuses on encounters with otherworldly beings in contemporary Francophone queer literature from the Maghreb region. She primarily utilises contemporary literary approaches such as decolonialism, feminist studies, and queer studies, drawing on literary-sociological theories. She completed a study visit at Bordeaux Montaigne University, and in addition to her research and interpreting work, she regularly contributes to cultural and literary magazines (A2, Plav, re:vize, etc.). She is a member of the jury for the prose section of the Czech Literary Critics Award.