Welcome to our website! We are independent press that focuses on the promotion of quality English translations of literature from Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe
Books Published by Plamen Press
News, Events, and Literature in Translation
Farewell and a Handkerchief Featured in Sage Cigarettes Magazine
We are please that Vitezslav Nezval’s Farewell and a Handkerchief was reviewed in Sage Cigarettes Magazine. We thank Nicole Yurcaba for a wonderful review: Oh Those Streets, Cemeteries, and Aquariums!”
Vasyl Makhno’s Paper Bridge Featured in Los Angeles Review of Books
We are pleased to congratulate Vasyl Makhno for a successful review in Los Angeles Review of Book written by Nicole Yurcaba. Click here to read the review
Translation of the Week: Vasyl Makhno “A Yacht Sails at Night”
For this week’s Translation of the Week we feature the poem “A Yacht Sails at Night” from our upcoming publication Paper Bridge, by Ukrainian poet Vasyl Makhno; translated by Olena
Translation of the Week: Baiba Bičole – Two Poems
For today’s Translation of the Week, we would like to present two poems, “Ancestral Mother” and “I am the Skin of a Drum”, from the bilingual collection To Taste the
Karel Kryl Brother, Close the Gate, Will you?
Plamen Press and Sciences has teamed up with the Washington DC Chapter of the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences and Baltimore-based Sun King Records, , and a group of international musicians (The Yehla Collective) to record an English version of the legendary song by legendary singer-songwriter and poet Karel Kryl: Bratřícku, zavírej vrátka or Brother, Close the Gate, Will you?. The song is reflective of Kryl’s initial shock, disbelief, and later anger triggered by the 1968 Soviet-led invasion of his country, Czechoslovakia. Karel Kryl was forced into exile in West Germany where he continued to perform and produce songs smuggling them into occupied Czechoslovakia and distributing them through Samizdat. Brother, Close the Gate, Will you? became a symbol of resistance during the 23-year occupation.
Sound of the Sundial among The Calvert Journal’s picks of best 7 contemporary Czech novels everyone should read.
We are pleased to announce that one of our publications, The Sound of the Sundial by Hana Andronikova has been chosen as one of the seven best Czech novels everyone should read by The Calvert Journal. We thank Cory Oldweiler for a wonderful review. The article can be read here.