Aleš Palán: An exitus in the wilderness

– Czechia

Born in 1965 in Jihlava, Aleš Palán studied at the Faculty of Education of Masaryk University in Brno but left before graduating. He then wandered the country, worked as a watchman, figurant and a digger. In the past 25 years, he has worked as a journalist, editor, poet and writer. He is the author of over ten literary interviews with people such as Marie Svatošová (Neboj se vrátit domů/Don’t be Afraid to Come Home, 2018), with reclusive people of Šumava (Raději zešílet v divočině/Better to Go Crazy in the Wild, 2018), with Jan and Gabriel Florian (Být dlužen za duši/To Be Indebted for a Soul, 2007), with Daniel and Jiří Reynek (Kdo chodí tmami/Who Walks in the Darkness, 2004) and with Bohumil Vít Tajovský (Člověk musí hořeti/A Man Must Burn, 2001). He published over ten journalistic essay books and edited another ten; he wrote two poetry collections and four novels (last of which is titled Miss Exitus, 2019).