He subsequently, during “Normalization,” was forced to perform menial labor and was not allow to publish “officially.” Klíma’s participation in the underground literary activities dubbed “Samizdat” was both heroic and practical. Samizdat allowed Klíma and many other Czech writers — Ludvík Vaculík, Vaclav Havel and many others — to reach a Czech-language audience even as their work was being translated and read in the West.
Ivan Klíma will have an English translation of one of his stories read, and will then disseminate to the audience actual Samizdat manuscripts as he talks about the incredible history of late 20th century Czech literature.
In English.
