Irena Brežná
Born (1950-02-26) 26 February 1950
Bratislava, Czechoslovak Republic
Occupation(s)journalist, writer, activist

Irena Brežná (born 26 February 1950) is a Slovak-Swiss writer, journalist and human rights activist writing in German.

Early life and education

Irena Brežná was born on 26 February 1950, in Bratislava.[1] She grew up in Trenčín.[1] Her parents were repressed by the communist Czechoslovak authorities, her mother spent a year in prison after an unsuccessful attempt to flee to Sweden, and her father – a lawyer – was forbidden from working in his professional field.[1] Eventually, her family emigrated in 1968 to Switzerland.[1] In 1975, Brežná began studying Psychology, Philosophy and Slavic studies at University of Basel.[2] She worked as a psychologist and translated from Russian into German.[1]

Career

During Cold War, Brežná worked as a radio correspondent for the BBC Radio, Deutsche Welle and the Slovak branch of Radio Free Europe.[2] She also actively participated in the works of Amnesty International,[2] focusing on humanitarian and women's rights issues in Guinea and Chechnya.[1] Since the 1980s,[1] she has been a regular contributor to the German and Swiss press, including Die Zeit, Tages-Anzeiger, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Basler Zeitung and Süddeutsche Zeitung.[2] In the 1990s, she began regularly visiting Slovakia and contributing to a Slovak magazine, Aspekt.[1]

Brežná writes in German.[1] In her work, she often deals with the themes of alienation and injustice.[2] She debuted in 1989 with an anti-racist children's book cowritten with Alpha Oumar Barry, titled Biro & Barbara.[2] Her autobiographical work Die Beste aller Welten (2008) placed in Swiss bestseller lists.[2]

Brežná is the recipient of a Swiss Literature Award for her 2012 novel Die undankbare Fremde.[3] She was also awarded the Slovak Dominik Tatarka Award (2016)[4] and Hermann Kesten Prize (2021).[5] Her journalist work has brought her Emma-Journalistinnen-Preis, Theodor Wolff Prize and Zürcher Journalistenpreis.[3] In 2022, she was awarded the Pribina Cross (2nd Class), a Slovak state order.[6]

Brežná lives in Basel.[3]

Publications

  • Brežná, Irena; Barry, Alpha Oumar (1989). Biro und Barbara. Gümligen. ISBN 978-3-7296-0322-6. OCLC 611544616.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • —— (1991). Karibischer Ball : Erzählungen und Reportagen (in German). Zürich: EFeF-Verlag. ISBN 3-905493-15-2. OCLC 25657738.
  • —— (2008). Die beste aller Welten : Roman (in German). Berlin: Ebersbach. ISBN 978-3-938740-72-9. OCLC 253609306.
    • Ірэна Брэжна. Найлепшы з усіх светаў : Раман / пераклад з нямецкай Лізаветы Касмач (in Belarusian). — Вільня: Логвінаў, 2015. — 126 с.
  • —— (2010). Schuppenhaut ein Liebesroman (in German). Berlin. ISBN 978-3-86915-025-3. OCLC 658235637.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • —— (2012). Die undankbare Fremde Roman (in German). Berlin. ISBN 978-3-86971-052-5. OCLC 782970332.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)[2]
  • —— (2018). Wie ich auf die Welt kam in der Sprache zu Hause (in German). Zürich: Rotpunktverlag. ISBN 978-3-85869-795-0. OCLC 1048391953.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Irena Brežná - Životopis autora". Literárne informačné centrum (in Slovak). Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Johnston, Jonny. "Irena Brežná". The Institute of Modern Languages Research. Archived from the original on 22 August 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 "Irena Brežná". Rotpunktverlag (in German). Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  4. ↑ "CENA DOMINIKA TATARKU 2015". OBEC SPISOVATEĽOV SLOVENSKA (in Slovak). Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  5. ↑ PEN-Zentrum. "Irena Brežná erhält Kesten-Preis des deutschen PEN am 18.11. in Darmstadt". PEN-Zentrum Deutschland (in German). Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  6. ↑ "Vyznamenania". Prezidentka Slovenskej republiky (in Slovak). Retrieved 8 August 2022.
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