Viki Shock & Patrik Linhart: A breast, tongue, excavator & an idiot
– Czechia
Poets and prose writers, artists and musicians, explorers of the cultural periphery and accomplished hoaxers. Patrik Linhart was born in Duchcov in 1969 under the name Pavel Jazyk. He has a degree in economics. Viki Shock was born under his true name Viktor Pípal in Prague in 1975 and has a master’s degree in theology. They have tried various jobs, including a cemetery gardener and a teacher. Their literature is firmly rooted in comedy inspired by various historical aesthetics as well everyday reality. Their works include: Čítanka český Jazyk (Reading Book of the Czech Tongue, 1998; PL), Dvakrát opakované ňadro (A Twice-Repeated Breast, 1999; VS), Jáma a rypadlo (The Pit and the Excavator, 2019; PL) and V předsíni dýchal idiot (An Idiot Breathed in the Lobby, 2020; VS). In their older age, they’ve also started translating, e.g. a collection of works by Arthur Machen (Temnota nepomíjí/Darkness Neverending, 2019; PL) and Howard Phillips Lovecraft (Houby z Yuggothu/Fungi from Yuggoth, 2019; VS).