Department of Pluggin' the Dutch

Edgar de Bruin, the Dutch translator of Jáchym Topol — and several other Czech authors — has a Web site titled Pluh (Czech for "plow"), on which he plugs Czech lit to the inhabitants of the Netherlands. Impressively, it's available in three different languages: Dutch, Czech, and English.

I met Edgar on my last trip to Prague, in summer of 2002. He is a great guy: funny, smart, and entirely devoted to Czech literature. At the moment, he is doing his best to convince the prestigious British publishing house Faber and Faber to publish Topol's last novel — Nocní práce (2001) — in English, which would mean, I hope, a job for me. Fans of Topol, keep your fingers crossed.

P.S. This damn font doesn't allow me to use all the Czech characters! Ergo the lack of hácek on the c in Nocní.