Karol Chmel, a prominent translator, has died
Karol Chmel (born 1953) was one of the most important translators of Polish literature into Slovak. He graduated in andragogy from Comenius University in Bratislava, and later worked as an editor in publishing houses and magazines, where he tirelessly promoted Polish literature — most recently at the Kalligram publishing house.
Chmel introduced Slovak readers to, among others, authors such as Marcin Baran, Leszek Engelking, Darek Foks, Natasza Goerke, Witold Gombrowicz, Zbigniew Herbert, Tadeusz Konwicki, Jerzy Kronhold, Ryszard Krynicki, Ewa Lipska, Czesław Miłosz, Jacek Podsiadło, Tadeusz Różewicz, Jarosław Marek Rymkiewicz, Marcin Świetlicki, Olga Tokarczuk and Adam Zagajewski. He also translated from Serbian, Croatian and Slovene, including such giants of literature as Danilo Kiš, Borislav Pekić, Aleš Debeljak, Edvard Kocbek and Bora Ćosić.
An important part of his creative activity were his poetry publications. In Poland his poems were published in the quarterly ‘Akcent’ and the monthly ‘Tygiel Kultury’. The largest selection can be found in the anthology of three Slovak poets Oko za ząb, edited by Leszek Engelking.
Karol Chmel received numerous awards in Poland for his translation work. In 2003 he received the Zbigniew Dominiak Prize for translations of Polish poetry into Slavic languages; in 2011 he was awarded the ZAiKS literary prize for translators. In the same year he was decorated with the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland.