Ivan Blatný

Ivan Blatný studied at Masaryk University. The recorded working language is Esperanto, Czech and German. The field of work recorded is creative and professional writing, poetry and translation. Places of work recorded in the authority are Brno. Work by Ivan Blatný is recorded in the collections of Samizdat Collection of Czechoslovak Documentation Centre, Czech Exile Collection at Libri Prohibiti, Czech Samizdat Collection at Libri Prohibiti, Václav Havel Library and Ivan Blatný Collection at the Museum of Czech Literature. Distinctions recorded are Czech Medal of Merit and honorary citizen of Brno.

Blatný was born on 21 December 1919 in Brno, Czechoslovakia. He the son of the writer Lev Blatný. He was a member of the Group 42 (Skupina 42), association of Czech modern artists. In March 1948, after the communist seizure of power in his native country, Blatný left his country - just one of many figures in Czech Literature who chose to emigrate rather than go underground. However, he found life in exile difficult, as did many other émigré Czech writers such as Ivan Diviš. During his subsequent life in the United Kingdom, he spent time in various mental hospitals, suffering from a paranoid fear that StB agents would kidnap him back to Czechoslovakia. From 1984 until shortly before his death, he lived in a retirement home in Clacton-on-Sea. He died on 5 August 1990 in Colchester. A plaque commemorating his stay can be seen on the wall of the Edensor Care Home in Orwell Road. His ashes were taken to the Brno Central Cemetery. In 2017 a new road on the site of the old St Clements Hospital in Ipswich was named Ivan Blatny Close in memory of the one time resident.

At the beginning of his career, Blatný mostly wrote using conventional rhyming and rhythmic forms such as alexandrine quatrains, most notably in the Brno Elegies (Czech: Melancholické procházky; Prague: Melantrich, 1941). The correct translation of the Czech title is 'Melancholic Walks', but Blatný's original title Brněnské elegie was forbidden by the war-time censor for its suggestion that the poet might have been regretful about the German invasion of Czechoslovakia. The poems themselves make no reference whatsoever to contemporary events, but concentrate on Brno and its hinterland, with a beautiful hypnotic lyricism.

Old Addresses, in Czech, 1979. Recorded as having received Czech Medal of Merit and honorary citizen of Brno.