Ľubomír Feldek: A Poem to the Reader

Ľubomír Feldek was born in Žilina in 1936. A poet, novelist, essayist, playwright and translator, he also writes books for children and young adults. He holds a degree in Slovak language and literature from the University of Education in Bratislava, and has worked as a magazine and book editor. His first piece of work, Hra pre tvoje modré oči [A Play for Your Blue Eyes], was published in 1959, his most recent, Životopis vo veršoch [A Memoir in Verse] in 2016. Overall, Feldek has authored over eighty books and translated another twenty-five, mainly the work of William Shakespeare. ‘I’m quite sure I have fewer readers than I used to,’ he says, ‘but it’s neither their fault, nor mine. It’s plain and simple – in today’s world, it is quite an art to get a poem to the reader.’