Not your regular ambassador

It is obvious that beyond the usual trade and investment concerns, literature enjoys a high priority for Jaroslav Olša Jr., ambassador of the Czech Republic to the Philippines. In fact, we first met, not at a diplomatic reception, but at the National Book Development Board’s 6th Philippine International Literary Festival in Davao City in 2015. The embassy had flown in Ondrej Neff, a popular science fiction author in the Czech Republic, to be a festival speaker. Over dinner, we discovered that Olša is a consummate book lover,  reading a book a day since he was five, and was a diplomat’s son, with son appointed first and father next,  in that curious sequence, after the Velvet Revolution. He also mentioned at the dinner that he had an appointment with then Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, an appointment that the NBDB could not confirm for itself. How could we compete with the clout of a diplomat?

Olša said that every time he visited the Philippines starting in 1994 he would visit bookstores, especially F. Sionil Jose’s Solidaridad. He used to be head editor of the Czech science fiction literary magazine Ikarie and translator of science fiction from the communist era of Central Europe until the democratic independence of the Czech Republic in 1989, when a publishing boom took place. He and Neff published the first “Encyclopedia of Science Fiction” which includes authors from all over the world.

It was during Olša’s first visit to Manila and to the Solidaridad that he first discovered the novella “Into the White Hole,” published by New Day and written by the only Filipino science fiction writer then, Jose Ma. Espino. He sought out Espino for an interview, and the latter was surprised that a Caucasian was interested in his work. Unfortunately, Espino did not live long enough to see one of his stories published in Czech.

This love for science fiction was what brought Olša in touch with Dean Francis Alfar, who is known for his pioneering work in the writing and publishing of speculative fiction. At the 2017 Manila International Book Fair, an event Olša always looks forward to, “Ang Manggagaway at iba pang Kathang-Agham at Pantasya mula sa Gitnang Europa at Pilipinas” (The Witcher and other Fantasy and Science Fiction from Central Europe and the Philippines) was launched. It was published by Visprint Inc. and edited by József Bencze (Hungary’s ambassador to the Philippines), Alfar and Olša. Short stories from the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and the Philippines were translated into Filipino by Eros Atalia, Joselito D. Delos Reyes, Bob Ong and Beverly Siy.

Before that was “Layag: European Classics in Filipino,” the first such anthology of European writing, published by Anvil. Andrea Pasion-Flores, who heads Anvil, describes the book: “It makes available to more people stories from other shores. As our title suggests, ‘layag’ or voyage … invites the reader, perhaps a reader who might not normally embark on such a journey, to read and journey into stories beyond our shores, not just to see differences between our culture and others’ but to see the similarities in our humanity as well.”

In partnership with Kristian Cordero and Ateneo de Naga Press, the Czech Embassy enthusiastically supported Cordero’s translation of Franz Kafka’s “Metamorphosis” in Bikol by providing a traveling Kafka exhibit. Olša met Cordero when the translation was completed.

Even as Olša knows only too well the challenges in publishing—such as finding the right texts and the English translations, arranging the rights and meeting deadlines he continues to be more than elated when he holds the very first copy from the printer and hears from readers. Many more books are forthcoming, like the anthology in Filipino of Czech writing from the end of the 19th century to the early 21st century, and a reciprocal anthology of post-Edsa Philippine writers to be published in Czech. Another ambitious project is a collection of stories by contemporary European writers, including fiction from Finland, Portugal, and Greenland, and an extract from an award-winning novel, “Spaceman of Bohemia,” by a Czech author based in New York. A feast for readers, promises Olša.

Even more ambitious are Olša’s and the Czech Embassy’s plans for translation into other Philippine languages.  What a boost to the literary scene, for which one can only be too grateful.

Neni Sta. Romana Cruz (nenisrcruz@ gmail.com) is chair of the National Book Development Board and a member of the Eggie Apostol Foundation.