I Caught Sight of My Face

Petr Hru?ka is widely considered one of the most important Czech poets. Based on 'The First Voyage around the World', written exactly 500 years earlier by Antonio Pigafetta, Hru?ka's I Caught Sight of my Face turns the glorious saga of Magellan's voyage of discovery into an unsettling exploration of human behaviour, showing how man remains an anxious, insecure, sometimes cowardly, evil, xenophobic and violent being. It is an uncomplicated, yet at the same time, deeply profound book, brought to life through illustrations by Jakub ?panhel (1976), an acclaimed contemporary Czech visual artist, who creates an interesting dialogue between the text and its visual accompaniment. AUTHOR: Petr Hru?ka (1964) is a poet and literary historian who lives in Ostrava, Czech Republic. His poetry has won several state and international awards, including the Czech State Award for Literature in recognition of his collection Darmata (To No Travail, 2012) and Magnesia Litera, the most prestigious annual literary award in the Czech Republic, for his collection Spatril jsem svou tvar (I Caught Sight of My Face, 2022). Collections of Hru?ka's poetry have been translated into French, German, Polish, Italian, Hungarian, Romanian, and Croatian. SELLING POINTS: . An English translation of Petr Hru?ka's poetry book Spatril jsem svou tvar (2022), given the Magnesia Litera Award for poetry, the most prestigious annual literary award in the Czech Republic