Viliam Nádaskay

From Irony to Anxiety? Contemporary Slovak Poetry

The lecture will outline the most visible tendencies and names in Slovak poetry of the last few years, whether stubbornly ironic, holier-than-thou metaphysical, or declaratively authentic. The lecture will attempt to explain what significance do these modes of writing  hold for Slovak literature or, God forbid, the society.

Viliam Nádaskay (1994) is a literary historian, a literary critic and a poet. He graduated from Faculty of Arts of Comenius University in Bratislava in English and Slovak Philology. He works at the Institute of Slovak Literature of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, where he received his PhD. His research focuses on 20th and 21st century poetry, mainly intersecting with socialist realism, social engagement and politics. He published his research in collective books Zmena v praxi (Change in Practice, 2022) and Literárne krajiny Bratislavy (Literary Landscapes of Bratislava, 2023). He co-edited the anthology of contemporary literary criticism Kritická ročenka (Critical Almanach) between 2019 - 2023, and is an editor of the internet literary magazine Platforma pre literatúru a výskum (Platform for Literature and Research). He published two books of poetry.