Biography of Hussite general Jan Žižka named Czech ‘Book of the Year’

A monumental biography of the Hussite military leader Jan Žižka by historian Petr Čornej was named ‘Book of the Year’ at the Magnesia Litera awards, the country’s most publicised annual literary event.

The Magnesia Litera awards cover nine categories in total. The award for best prose went to Jiří Kratochvil (The Fox in the Lady), for poetry to Ewald Murrer (Night Reading), for children's book to David Böhm (A as in Antarctica) and for best Czech translation to Ladislav Nagy (for the Patrick Melrose series by Edward St Aubyn).

Last year, the top prize went to veteran author Radka Denemarková (for her novel Hours of Lead), while the award for best prose went to Pavla Horáková (for her novel A Theory of Strangeness).