MANILA – As proof to the continuously strengthening Czech-Philippine ties in the field of culture and the arts, a brand new translation exchange program between the Philippines and the Czech Republic was recently launched. Spearheaded by the Czech Embassy in Manila and the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, the sides will initiate the translation and publication of three Czech books in Filipino and reciprocally three books by Philippine writers in the Czech language.
The Memorandum of Understanding that was recently signed by Virgilio S. Almario, Chairman of the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, and Czech Ambassador Jaroslav Olša, jr. is recognized as a momentous development as it is the first of its kind in the course of the two countries’ bilateral relations.
For the first joint project under the agreement, the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino is set to publish the book-length selection of the best poems by Nobel Prize winning Czech poet Jaroslav Seifert, which will thus become only the second ever translation of a Czech writer published in the Philippines, following the Tagalog edition of the drama Memorandum (Ang Memorandum) by late Czech president Václav Havel published in Manila in 1990.
“As our part of a deal, a selection of short fiction and poems by Philippine writers will be published under the title Literatura ng Pilipinas by Czech literary monthly Plav,” says Czech Ambassador Jaroslav Olša, jr. To be published in mid-August, a special issue of Plav magazine will present both the Philippine classics as well as brand new talents to the Czech readers, which will be followed by another anthology presenting modern and contemporary Philippine fiction writers sometime next year. (Eagle News Service/Embassy of the Czech Republic)