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Jiří Suchý Czech Republic    PWF 2009

A magical artist—poet, lyricist, playwright and actor—Jiří Suchý was born in 1931 in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia.  In 1947, as a graphic designer in the advertising agency Propagační tvorba in Prague, he met Viktor Sodoma, a musician who memorized and played songs from western radio broadcasts to his colleagues. Together, Suchý and Sodoma created their first private broadcasting programs.

During his military service, Suchý began composing lyrics from songs heard on Radio Munich.  One of the preserved texts—Potkala ryba papouška (The Fish Met a Parrot)—was later recorded by the brilliant singer Ljuba Hermanová.

Jiří Suchý soon focused on theatre—performing in Reduta with Jiří Šlitr, Miroslav Horníček and Ivan Vyskočil—establishing in 1959, the legendary Semafor theater company (Sedm Malých Forem) at the Ve Smečkách Theatre—co-founding the Na Zábradlí Theatre—and in recent times working with Josef Dvořák and the singer-actress Jitka Molavcová.

Suchý’s work includes collections of poetry Černá vzducholod (The Black Vessel), Trocha poezie (A Small Bit of Poetry), and Kolik očí má den (How Many Eyes Has the Day); aphorisms Malý lexikon pro zamilované (A Small Lexicon for Those in Love); and a memoir Inventura: Vzpomínání 1968—1989 (Recollections).

“I can reconcile with everything—but not with everyone.”

Jiří Suchý lives in Prague.