The 76-year-old novelist and playwright will present his story of fatal, destructive and self-destructive love to Hungarian audiences at Budapest's Czech Center.
Along with Milan Kundera and Bohumil Hrabal, Klíma is among the most popular Czech writers. His works have been translated into 31 languages, and several films have been based on his stories, which explore love and relationships from several different viewpoints.
Klíma was born in Prague in 1931. At age 11, he and his family were ordered to move to Terezin, a way station on the road to Auschwitz. He spent three years there and was saved from deportation.
His first short stories, inspired by the years spent in Terezin, were published in 1945. From 1963, he edited several magazines, until they were banned by the government in a crackdown which culminated in the Prague Spring of 1968.
After the events of 1968, Klima was no longer allowed to publish his writing and was prevented from holding a proper job. He worked as a street sweeper, an ambulance assistant and a surveyor. But he continued to write and assist with underground publications.
Klima's books available in Hungarian include The Hour of Silence, Waiting for the Dark, Waiting for the Light and No Saints or Angels.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
