WRITER Pavel Vilikovský received the second Anasoft Litera literary award on September 16. He was awarded the prize for 2014 for his book Prvá a Posledná Láska (First and Last Love), published by Slovart.
“I wrote this book because I am retired and have nothing to do,” Vilikovský said, as quoted by the TASR newswire.
The book contains two stories which do not relate to each other at first glance. One discusses the problems of an aging photographer who has to decide whether or not he wants to continue his work under new conditions which he is not accustomed to. The second tells the story of a pensioner who at his volunteer job must cope with the dramatic events inflicted by the 20th century upon mankind, the author explained.
Vilikovský said he had not expected to win the award.
“I am surprised, I really did not count on it since I have already received this prize once and there are many [writers] who have not received it and were among the candidates,” Vilikovský told TASR.
He further explained that the jury first selects the books, and only then focuses on the details.
“I assume that the younger authors deserve, in these not very easy times for literature, to be pushed more to the forefront,” Vilikovský said.
The jury, composed of literary scientist Fedor Matejov, translator Renáta Deáková, literary scientist Marcel Forgáč, poet and translator Zbigniew Machej and literary scientist Peter Zajac, especially appreciated Vilikovský’s “work with individual families and society’s memory, and also for a reserved search for possible catharsis, face to face with the past and the present”, as reported by TASR.
Vilikovský received the first award in 2006 for his prose Čarovný Papagáj a Iné Gýče (Magic Parrot and Other Kitsch).
