The Bitter Life of Bozena Nemcova: A Biographical Collage

by Kelcey Parker Ervick

Overview

Artistic, rebellious, and unapologetically intelligent, Božena Nemcová defied every convention for a woman in mid-nineteenth-century Bohemia: she was active in nationalist politics, she smoked cigars, she took a series of lovers, and she laid bare her ideas and emotions in her letters and stories. The Bitter Life of Božena Nemcová is a biographical collage of found texts, footnotes, fragments, and images by and about the Czech fairy tale writer, whom Milan Kundera calls the "Mother of Czech Prose." Kelcey Parker Ervick's innovative collage form, with its many voices and viewpoints, questions the concept of biographical "truth" while also revealing a nuanced and spellbinding portrait of Nemcová. Inspired by Nemcová's letters, the book's second section, "Postcards to Božena" is Parker Ervick's epistolary memoir of her own failing marriage and her quest for a Czech typewriter, as well as a meditation on reading, writing, and happy endings. The two sections combine to create a book as defiant, enchanting, and complex as its namesake.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940156875153
Publisher:	Rose Metal Press, Inc.
Publication date:	11/01/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	348
File size:	21 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Kelcey Parker Ervick has traveled to Prague regularly since 2003 and currently directs an overseas study program to Prague and Berlin, where students create collage journals inspired by artists such as Hannah Höch, Toyen (Marie Cermínová), and Jirí Kolár. She is the author of the story collection For Sale By Owner (Kore Press) and of Liliane’s Balcony (Rose Metal Press), a novella-in-flash set at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater and winner of silver medal awards from the IPPY, Foreword, and Eric Hoffer Book Awards. A recipient of grants from the Indiana Arts Commission and the Sustainable Arts Foundation, she teaches creative writing and literary collage at Indiana University South Bend.