Slovakia
Monika Kompaníková
Monika Kompaníková is considered one of the most outstanding writers of contemporary Slovak fiction. She studied painting and graphic design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava. Her literary debut was the collection of short stories “Miesto pre samotu”, awarded the Ivan Krasko Prize. In 2006 her novella “Biele miesta” came out and was nominated for the Anasoft Litera Award. Human loneliness is one of her predominant themes, usually taking the form of one’s voluntary isolation from the outside world. Her characters are usually people living on the fringes of society with a past that is unclear or only hinted at. In 2008 she won the Tatra Banka Foundation Prize for young authors. Her novel “Piata loď” won the Anasoft Litera Award 2011 and has been translated into a number of languages. Various screenplays were based on the novel: short student films, a short animated film, theatre productions, a documentary film and the feature film “She is the Harbour”.
PIATA LOĎ (THE FIFTH BOAT)
Translation: Stojan Lekoski
The novel is the story of twelve-year-old Jarka, who lives in a suburb with her very young mother. The role of the mother is abhorrent to Jarka’s mother, as she was a teenager herself when she gave birth and has never shown her child any love or attention. Jarka must take care of herself; she spends long hours alone in the flat or wandering the streets. One day she notices a pram with six-month old twins in it. The children awaken the desire for a new life in Jarka, a purer and more beautiful life than she has thus far known. Together with eight-year-old Kristián, who has run away from home, they create their dreamed about “family.” The novel is a story of unhappy, abandoned, prematurely maturing children who have been hurt by their closest family and who therefore run away in order to create their own secret world. The fragility and vulnerability of the children is confronted with the inconsiderateness and insensitivity of adults.
The primary subject of the novel becomes the relationship between the children and their parents, marked by the lack of intimacy, nearness and love.