#ScribeTalks with Slovak Author Zuzana Palovic

As a writer of Slovak history, culture, and folklore, she has published four books so far. Dr. Zuzana Palovic is an active author, researcher, and social activist whose main works are concerning Slavs and Slavic traditions majoring in Slovakia. She holds a Ph.D. in Migration from the University of Surrey, UK; and acts as a migration expert as well. Here we are going to read the first part of a comprehensive interview with Zuzana Palovic: 

Scribe: Hi Zuzana. It’s our pleasure to have a notable Slovak author like you here. One of our missions is to motivate more people to read story and poetry materials. Though unfortunately, we don’t hear the good news about the book market these days. For instance, some bookstores and publishing companies have been bankrupt in Germany due to a low number of readers there. Quite surprising as Germany is a developed country that is supposed to have much more readers than third countries. What about Slovak publishers?   

Zuzana: Physical-copy-books are still popular in Slovakia, despite people reading more and more online and on their Tablets and iPhones. For example, although eBooks are becoming more and more familiar to Slovaks, they are still a relatively new phenomenon- also in part to the delay in the Slovak language eBook market. On the other hand, physical hard copy books are still very much respected in Slovak and in Slavic culture in general. People enjoy going into bookstores, often they are paired with a cozy café, and going there is an experience. You go to browse books and then grab a coffee with a friend. Book shopping is a holistic experience, of course, now-less-so with COVID and the ongoing lockdowns. Nevertheless, books are still a very popular and appreciated Christmas and Birthday gift, and if people can’t browse bookstores physically they are still doing it online. 

Scribe: Thanks for the clarification. Another question: how many people in Slovakia are interested in reading, especially storybooks? Do you have any statistics in this case?  

Zuzana: So sorry, I have no idea of the exact number of readers in Slovakia, but I’ve read on the World Economic Forum that Slovak people spend the most on books among the European Union countries. Nonetheless, when it comes to average reading time per day, Slovakia is not included among the first 15 European Union nations that read the most. Previously, I’ve lived in the UK where I did my Ph.D., and the UK has an impressive reading culture! For example, in London you can see so many Londoners making their morning commute to work on the tube, that much more pleasant by reading books. Books are just everywhere and due to the market demand – they are priced very cheaply. People just love buying, reading, gifting, and donating books. The second book market in England is pretty epic!  

Scribe: …. but, why the number of readers, in general, has decreased nowadays? 

Zuzana: I think because there are so many new mediums to access information now. The reality is we are living in a New Era, the Information Age. We have YouTube, we have Netflix, we have Tablets…we have very fast technologies in our pocket, like our smartphones that just make things more convenient, we want to consume ideas/ stories/ news on there. I guess you can call it evolution, times are changing and so people are also consuming information in different ways.   

Scribe: Then, do European countries especially the Slovak government, apply specific policies to encourage people to purchase and read books?

Zuzana: Not that I’m aware of. But we are a very small and niche publishing house, that is an extension of our NGO -Global Slovakia (www.globalslovakia.com). But, I am sure the more established publishing houses are subsidized by the government. Which is also critical in allowing these publishing houses to take risks with ‘new authors’, that produce less mainstream content. It’s thanks to these grants that they can subsidize the cost of printing and introduce new authors to society. Printing books is actually a beautiful and novel technique but it’s also very, very expensive. And it’s not only the printing that is expensive but the entire process from the purchasing of paper to ink to the physical machinery.

Scribe: Given the low number of readers, what were your motivations to write your storybooks?  You have published four books, right? 

Zuzana: Yes, we have been blessed to publish four books in 3 years. Three of them were co-authored with my colleague and dear friend, Dr. Gabriela Bereghazyova. We met while doing our Doctoral studies in the UK, both on very prestigious scholarships. She is a corruption scholar, but like me prefers to apply her skillset in nation-building work for the greater good of Slovakia.

We are very grateful our work has been so well received by the people, both at home and across the Atlantic -mostly in America. We’ve had two very successful crowdfunding campaigns. One international and one domestic. It’s a great feeling to be supported and appreciated by your readers. The mission of our NGO and books is to share our country’s story with the world. I was born in Slovakia but grew up in Canada and in the United States. Then, as a young adult, I traveled, studied, and worked all over the world. Through this journeying, I got to discover different countries and see how they present themselves to the world. When I came back to my home country, Slovakia, I wanted to find a better way to communicate the story of Slovakia to an international audience. 

To be clear, this was not telling Slovakia’s history to the people inside the country, because they already knew it, but to share it with a global audience. To people that were unfamiliar with my motherland and her culture. And that’s why Dr. Gabriela Bereghazyova wrote these books. Most of our books are sold in the United States and in the United Kingdom. But recently our first book which is called ‘The Legend of the Linden: A History of Slovakia’ has been translated into Arabic, Chinese, and Russian. We are very excited to introduce Slovakia’s journey across the centuries to whole new audiences – beyond the English language.    

Scribe: Thank you. Now, let’s move on to the Slavic folklores; is there any significant difference between Slovak folklore/fairy tales and those of other Slavic nations? 

Zuzana: Yes, there are differences but also a lot of similarities between Slavic cultures in general. There are three major Slavic groups: Western Slavs, Eastern Slavs including Russians and Ukrainians, and Southern Slavs or Yugoslavs. In fact, Slavs are Europe’s largest ethnolinguistic group by language and landmass on the continent. Few people realize that one-in-three Europeans speak a Slavic language. 

As per Slavic culture, it also shares a common root across Slavic countries, perhaps best documented in fairytales and lore, which reflects the older and shared ancient mythology. Before Christianity came, the Slavs were Pagan and used to practice a native religion. They had a wide Patheon of gods and goddesses, and their belief system, social order, and spiritual practices were deeply entwined with nature.  Once again, you can best glimpse into this ancient world through Slavic fairytales that are still passed on and cherished today – across the Slavic world, which stretches from Prague in the Heart of Europe to Vladivostok, in the East by the Sea of Japan.    

Scribe: Thanks. Aside from writing storybooks, are you involved in teaching and research activities?

Zuzana: Sure, we don’t write storybooks but historical books actually – that use an accessible and story-like language to make them interesting to our readers. Our first book titled ‘The Legend of the Linden: A History of Slovakia’ is a short history of our country, told with emotion, symbolism. The second book is called ‘The Great Return’ and it looks at how migration is changing in Slovakia through the departure and return -young people bringing back new ideas, skills and most importantly new mindsets influenced by contact with the vaster world abroad. The third book titled ‘Czechoslovakia: Behind the Iron Curtain’ documents the forty-one years of communism, the totalitarian regime that existed in Czechoslovakia. It tells how and why communism was established in this part of Europe, and ultimately why it collapsed also. It is a very powerful read and a useful guidebook to understanding any authoritarian regime. The fourth book called ‘Super Slovaks’ is our first book written for youth, it explores the 50 movers and shakers that helped to shape Slovakia and thereby also impact the world. 

We are privileged to say that Dr. Gabriela Bereghazyova and I have had a very productive few years, since finishing our PhDs at the University of Surrey, just outside of London. We are proud and humbled to serve our country. Slovakia is a new nation, but the Slovaks are an old people. For the first time in over one thousand years, Slovakia is an independent nation (1993) and we are doing our part in helping to give her a voice. 

We also started an Online Academy to further share our knowledge of Slovak culture, customs, history, and traditions. And the pandemic has made our bi-weekly webinars very popular, sometimes upwards of 600+ people register to join our lectures.    

Scribe: Sounds great! Sorry for the misconception. I thought your works are storybooks but now you clarified that you have written historical books. No question remains. At the end, on behalf of Scribe magazine, I’d like to thank you for your participation in this constructive interview. Also, I wish you the best of luck in publishing your new works and furthering all your civil activities.

Zuzana: Thank you so much for this opportunity. It is such a pleasure to connect with you.

Interview conducted by: Seyed Shaho Ahmadi