Jáchym Topol (born 4 August 1962) is a Czech poet, novelist, musician and journalist who became a laureate of the Czech State Award for Literature in October 2017 for his novel Sensitive Man. Life Jáchym Topol was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, to Josef Topol, Czech playwright, poet, and translator of Shakespeare, and Jiřina Topolová, daughter of the famous Czech Catholic writer Karel Schulz. Topol's writing began with lyrics for the rock band Psí vojáci, led by his younger brother, Filip, in the late '70s and early '80s. In 1982, he cofounded the samizdat magazine Violit, and in 1985 Revolver Revue, a samizdat review that specialized in modern Czech writing. Because of his father's dissident activities, Topol was not allowed to go to university. After graduating from gymnasium he worked as a stoker, stocker, construction worker, and coal deliveryman. Several times he was imprisoned for short periods, both for his samizdat publishing activities and for his smuggling across the Polish border in cooperation with members of Polish Solidarity. He was also a signatory of the Charter 77 human rights declaration. During the 1989 Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia, Topol wrote for the independent newsletter Informační servis, which later became the investigative weekly Respekt. As of October 2009, he was on the staff of the daily Lidové noviny. He lives in Prague with his wife, Barbara, and their two daughters, Josefína and Marie. Works Poetry Miluju tě k zbláznění (I love you madly; samizdat, 1988) / Topol's first collection of poetry, published in samizdat, received the Tom Stoppard Prize for Unofficial Literature (founded in 1983 by Tom Stoppard and awarded by the Charta 77 Foundation in Stockholm); first non-samizdat edition published by Atlantis in 1990. V úterý bude válka (The war will be on Tuesday; Edice 13x18, 1992) / Five poems from this collection were published in Alex Zucker's translation in the Spring 1994 issue of Trafika: an international literary review. Novels Sestra (Sister; Atlantis, 1994) / Received the 1995 Cena Egona Hostovského (Egon Hostovský Prize), awarded for a "novel which artistically exceeds the standard production" / English translation Alex Zucker: City Sister Silver (Catbird Press, 2000) / Polish translation Leszek Engelking: Siostra (Wydawnictwo W.A.B., 2002) / Also translated into German and Hungarian Anděl (Angel; Hynek, 1995) / German translation Peter Sacher: Engel Exit (Volk und Welt, 1997) / French translation Marianna Canavaggio: Ange exit (J'ai lu, 2002) / Turkish translation Martin Alaçam: