Klóketen
Sylva Lauerová returns to poetry once again, and as usual, she refuses to be beholden to general poetic tastes. Capturing a state of mind and soul in sparse, minimalist sketches, she speaks to us through the language of Zen images and uncompromisingly weaves stories from the world around us.
Klóketen is the third collection of poetry by this commercially successful author (known for her novels – The Toy, Jumaroro, Sexy Strategy, The Lurker) and is subtitled Notes on Maturation. The main title, inspired by the language of the now-extinct South American Selk’nam (or Ona) tribe, is the designation given to novices going through the demanding male initiation rite into adulthood. This is how the author sees herself and her own life in recent years, as well as the lives of others, as she repeatedly turns to the darker side of human existence, full of doubts, sadness, nostalgia, and resignation.
The book is divided into three notional parts: short meditative pauses, encouraging a deeper examination of what has been communicated, a selection from the author’s work, in both Czech and English, and the lyrical epic Klóketen, returning to the painful subject of the largely neglected genocide of the indigenous people of South America.
The Czech painter Romana Štrynclová was asked to come up with images to accompany Klóketen. This collaboration resulted in illustrations that exquisitely complement the texts and brilliantly capture the atmosphere of the extraordinary poetry encountered in this collection.
The collection of poetry Klóketen was officially introduced to the world in September 2022 for the price 169, - CZK.
You can buy the book Klóketen here: