“Brits and Czechs have a lot of shared DNA,” says Ambassador Matt Field at launch of new book
This week saw the launch of Jsem Tu Novej (I’m New Here), a book by the British ambassador to Prague, Matt Field. Proceeds from the autobiography, which takes its title from a social media campaign that quickly made the freshly arrived diplomat well-known in Czechia, are going to the Pink Bubble Foundation, which helps children and young people with cancer. I spoke to Mr. Field at the presentation at the British Embassy.
You were saying earlier that you were asked by a publisher to write the book. But why did you nod to that idea?
“My first answer was no. I didn’t think I could write a book and I didn’t think, even if I wrote a book, that I could come up with something that would be interesting for people.
“But then we started talking about it at the Embassy and with the team at [publishers] Euromedia, and I thought maybe there was a way to explain what diplomats and ambassadors do, and to talk about the relationship between our two countries in a way that might be interesting for people.
“And then what really made a difference for me was when I realised that we could use this to support some good causes – and this is where Pink Bubble comes in.
“This is an organisation that works with children going through the most difficult times, recovering from cancer treatments, and when I realised that we could do that connection as well, that we could support something that I really cared about, then the answer was yes.”
How did you find the actual experience of sitting down, I presume every day, and typing away?
“I’ve always loved books and I’ve always loved reading, but writing is a very different experience.
“It was tough, to be honest. It took a lot of time, especially doing this for the first time.
“I had a lot of help from editors, from friends, from colleagues, but by the end I actually enjoyed it.
“I’m not in a rush to do it again, but I’m very glad to have written this one – and I hope people enjoy it.”
The first photo in the book is from your social media campaign #Jsemtunovej, which is also the name of the new book. How much has that been part of your life, basically, since you arrived?
“It’s been such a huge part, because it got us off to such a good start.
“We had a wonderful first-day experience, when I tried to communicate that we were open and enthusiastic, that I was really pleased to be here; I spoke Czech.
“And this phrase Jsem tu novej, which a colleague in the Embassy just came up with, I think just communicates something.
“Of course it’s not Jsem tu nový [which is formal], it’s Jsem tu novej.
“And when we started to hear really positive feedback from people, we got really excited about what we could do with it.”
What have you learned over the years about Czechs, and about the relationship they have with your country?
“I started this job with, I think, a huge advantage, in that Czechs and Brits have been working together for as long as we’ve had histories together, for as long as we’ve been countries together.
“So you can think about the Czechs who flew and fought with the RAF during World War II, you can think about the relationship between Masaryk and colleagues in London, you can think about during the communist years, when British academics would sneak into the country and teach in secret at this underground university. The relationship between Havel and Prince Charles, now King Charles.
“This is all a big advantage, I think, for someone doing this job.
“And today I feel the interest we have in each other’s countries – whether it’s Brits drinking Czech beers or Czech players winning at Wimbledon, people in this country who love shows like Red Dwarf and Miranda, people in the UK who are passionate about Kafka and Kundera…
“We have a lot of kind of shared DNA, and I think that really helps.”
Is there any one thing that you feel that you’ve learned about the Czechs?
“So many things. I love the dark sense of humour, because I think that’s quite natural to us Brits as well.
“We’re always suspicious of people who take themselves too seriously, and I think that’s why the humour translates very well.
“I do think the Czechs could maybe be a little bit more confident in their own story as well.
“This is a country that has enormous things going for it. So maybe a little bit more confidence – that would be my main request.”
Has the fact you’ve brought out a book during your final year led to people almost beginning to think about you in the past tense? For instance the magazine Reflex had the headline “Goodbye Česko”.
“Yes, I felt that was a little early. But I knew from the very first day that I would be leaving; it’s a mission with a finite amount of time.
“We’ll come to the end of our four years and we’ll be sorry to leave, but that was always the plan.
“I’ve still got seven or eight months left. I’m not slowing down – if anything, I’ll be accelerating right towards the end. I have a lot of things that I want to do.
“But yes, we’re not at the end just yet.”
Still, how do you think it’s actually going to feel, packing up at this amazing building, the British Embassy in Prague?
“I wish I could take this with me. This is one of the things that I’ll miss the most.
“It’s an amazing resource that we have here and we try to make the most of it.
“But we’re used to leaving. We’re used to saying goodbye and taking it with us – taking those relationships and keeping in touch.
“So we’ll be sorry to say goodbye, but it won’t be the end.”