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Mark Slouka United States of America    PWF 2018

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“The sins of the fathers visit us in curious ways.”

Novelist and essayist—Mark Slouka, the son of Czech refugees, was born in 1958 in Queens, New York. His work captures that amber of grief, as if reliving an unborn past through lightning.

“When it comes to memory, chronology isn’t a lie—it’s a wish-fulfillment fantasy, an attractive simplification, at best, a happy accident. All right—a lie.” 

Like Kafka, Slouka stands in front of the door—“condemned, redeemed, forgiven, but above all, acknowledged.” We see him sitting in Café Central talking to Karl Kraus and Elias Canetti. 

“Idleness is requisite to the construction of a complete human being—allowing us time to figure out who we are, and what we believe—allowing us time to consider what is unjust, and what we might do about it.”

For Mark Slouka, fear of silence creates the drive for noise and music. “Fear forces our hand, inspires us, makes visible the things we love.”

Slouka’s work includes: War of the Worlds, Lost Lake, God’s Fool, The Visible World, Essays from the Nick of Time, Brewster, Nobody’s Son, and All That Is Left Is All That Matters.

“Why is hate a stronger force than love? Maybe because it’s safer. Love leaves us exposed.”

 Mark Slouka lives in Prague.