The action of the winning novel of the Czech Book reflects the Holocaust

The first time in the history of the Czech Book, one book made a clean sweep of the awards in its 7 th edition. Even though the jury of specialists and the jury of high school students work separately, they arrived to the same result and the novel Hana by Alena Mornštajnová won both The Czech Book Award and the Czech Book young adult.

The action of the novel takes place in a small town of Moravia at the beginning of the 1950s. Through the story of a Jewish survivor of the concentration camps, the story reflects the most tragic period of the last century: the Holocaust.

The winner, Mrs. Alena Mornštajnová, has then collected all the recompenses that are normally shared between the two laureates: a bonus of 35,000 Czech crowns, a one-week residency in one of the European cities offered by the Czech Centres, and a one-month residency in Krakow (Poland) offered by the Prague Institute of Arts.

Photo: Milada Schieblová a studenti gymnázia
            J. V. Jirsíka České Budějovice