Vladimír Holan

Vladimír Holan (September 16, 1905 – March 31, 1980) was a Czech poet.

 Biography 
Vladimír Holan was born in 1905 in Prague. He got his high-school certificate in 1926 and started to study law. However, he was not much interested in it and left the university quickly. He worked in an office and after some years abandoned it because of ill health.

In 1926 Holan published his first book of poetry named Blouznivý vějíř (A Thoughtful Fan). The poet himself was not much pleased with the book. In 1930 he published another book which was more successful, named Triumf smrti (The Triumph of Death). Many other books followed that. The most important work by Holan is Noc s Hamletem (A night with Hamlet). Holan wrote poems till 1977 when his only daughter died. After it he wrote nothing more. Holan was awarded many times and nominated for Nobel prize. The poet died in Prague in 1980. He was buried at Olšany Cemetery in Prague.

 Work 
Holan's poems are different and usually regarded as difficult. The poems are full of symbols and images that can be understood in different ways. He used classical verse forms and free verse as well. He is also known to have employed alliteration and puns.Wiktor J. Darasz, Harmonia wokaliczna w poezji Vladimíra Holana. „Almanach Czeski”, 2006, p. 55–58 (in Polish); Lukáš Neumann, Od vanutí po záhřmotí – hlásková instrumentace v poezii Vladimíra Holana, Bohemistyka X, 2010, nr 4, p. 249–273, ISSN 1642–9893 (in Czech). Holan was also a translator. He translated European literature into Czech.

 Criticism 
 Úderem tepny. Sborník ze semináře k interpretaci básnického díla Vladimíra Holana, Edited by Vladimír Justl, Viola, Praha 1986

 References 

 Bibliography 
 James Partridge, The Narrative Poetry of Vladimír Holan, 1939-1955, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2007.
 Józef Waczków, Vladimír Hola [in:] Literatury zachodniosłowiańskie czasu przełomów 1890-1990, Vol. 2, Katowice 1999 (in Polish).

 Other websites 
 Vladimír Holan's poems at Art of Europe.

Category:Czech poets
Category:1905 births
Category:1980 deaths
Category:Writers from Prague