Background
Mr. Cervenka was born in Prague, Hlavni mesto Praha, Czech Republic, on March 15, 1933. His family immigrated to the United States in 1968. He was a son of Jaroslav (a banker) and Marta (a homemaker; maiden name, Ciprova) Cervenka.
(Celebrated Navigation is a selection of stories from Jard...)
Celebrated Navigation is a selection of stories from Jarda Cervenka's first three collections (Mal d'Afrique, Revenge of Underwaterman, and Fausto's Afternoon) with two new stories added.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0982933533/?tag=2022091-20
(Author Jarda Cervenka discovers that reality is often str...)
Author Jarda Cervenka discovers that reality is often stranger than fiction while living and traveling in East and West Africa. In this collection of stories set in Africa, he describes how those who do not belong, suffer-and then want to return to the Dark Continent again. His tales recall a calm village man whose best time in life was the Biafra war, two young Americans who hitchhike to Lake Baringo in Kenya, and a Peace Corps volunteer who disappears in the deadly Niger River delta. He also tells of a young businessman from Baltimore who is in love with an Igbo girl-and who encounters a prostitute in an unusual circumstance while on a business trip in Lagos. In another tale, a Californian professor with malformed feet travels to a deep jungle to learn how to construct orthopedic shoes, which change his life. Finally, three adventurers, kidnapped by ruthless robbers, get help from a French secret agent and a dose of luck. Life in Africa can be grim and disturbing, but there's also humor, humanity, and lots of adventure in the Four Thorns of Kilimanjaro.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/147595364X/?tag=2022091-20
(It is [his] ability to concisely, and seemingly without e...)
It is [his] ability to concisely, and seemingly without effort, evoke the curious mix of deep delight and overpowering loss that is Cervenka's gift.--Publishers Weekly It is [his] ability to concisely, and seemingly without effort, evoke the curious mix of deep delight and overpowering loss that is Cervenka's gift.--Publishers Weekly
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0898231582/?tag=2022091-20
(In his third collection, Jarda Cervenka shares his storie...)
In his third collection, Jarda Cervenka shares his stories of the world. In settings that range from Prague to Kenya to the Colombian jungle, Cervenka celebrates discovery, friendship, and the ever-fascinating parade of humanity.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0980037522/?tag=2022091-20
(In this collection of short stories, the author takes rea...)
In this collection of short stories, the author takes readers from Chocu, the remotest jungle region of Colombia, to the infamous site of the Golden Triangle in Thailand, stopping along the way in Prague's Lesser Town, a village bar in Kamikawa, and Minneapolis.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0268040001/?tag=2022091-20
Mr. Cervenka was born in Prague, Hlavni mesto Praha, Czech Republic, on March 15, 1933. His family immigrated to the United States in 1968. He was a son of Jaroslav (a banker) and Marta (a homemaker; maiden name, Ciprova) Cervenka.
Jarda Cervenka graduated from Charles University Medical School (Prague), with Doctor of Medicine in 1956. In 1966 he got his Doctor of Philosophy from Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences.
Since 1965 he has been a professor of medical genetics at University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. He has been known as a writer for many years. Military service: Czechoslovakian military.
Mr. Cervenka was a contributor of stories to anthologies, including the story “The Boundaries of Twilight” to a fiction anthology published by New Rivers Press in 1991. Also contributor of stories to periodicals, including Minnesota Daily and Blue Jacket. Translator of poems by Jaroslav Seifert.
In 1995 Jarda Cervenka published his first collection of short stories, Mai d’Afrique and Stories from Other Places.
(In this collection of short stories, the author takes rea...)
(Celebrated Navigation is a selection of stories from Jard...)
(It is [his] ability to concisely, and seemingly without e...)
(Author Jarda Cervenka discovers that reality is often str...)
(In his third collection, Jarda Cervenka shares his storie...)
(Format Paperback Subject Literary Collections Publisher X...)
(Format Hardcover Subject Fiction)
Mr. Cervenka doesn't belong to any religion.
Jarda Cervenka doesn't support any of the politican parties.
Quotations:
Jarda Cervenka told CA: "Traveling around the globe and living in places with different cultures, one meets interesting people, experiences bizarre situations, and is given the opportunity to understand — to some degree-happiness and anguish. My acquaintances are rarely interested in events taking place several miles distant or in people living lives much different from theirs. This might be natural. Therefore, I had to put my stories in writing."
"My writing process, 1 believe, is the usual: rewriting each story four times, changing, omitting, adding. I hope that my intense dislike of political or cultural correctness and my attempted honesty in depicting events and characters from other worlds or cultures is obvious. It must be. As much as I try to undress the ‘truth,’ this striptease I strive to perform with insensitivity, having only the nakedness of truth in my mind."
Jarda Cervenka has traveled to many exotic places in the world, including far northern Canada, Polynesia, and Thailand. His diving expeditions have taken him to such locations as the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean, while his mountainclimbing excursions have brought him to the peaks of Kilimanjaro in Africa, Mount Fuji in Japan, and Aconcagua in Argentina. In the course of his wanderings, he has made the acquaintance of ethnic groups such as the Inuit peoples of Canada, the Cholos tribes of Columbia, South America, the Tamils of Sri Lanka, and many African tribes. Mr. Cervenka has used memories from his trips to provide background for his short fiction, which he has published in periodicals such as the Minnesota Daily and Blue Jacket.
Mr. Cervenka married Alexandra Schrutzova (an artist) on March, 1957. They had two children: Vojta, Tereza.