Reading the City: BRATISLAVA

20th May 2026

The Book of Bratislava: A City in Short Fiction (Reading The City)

Editors: Radoslav Passia and Julia Sherwood

The Reading the City Series, published by Comma Press, celebrates the best translated short stories from around the world, brought together in individual volumes by specific location. You can find a selection of Comma Press’ titles on this link and the publisher adds to the series on a regular basis.

Who has been to Bratislava? It is the capital of Slovakia and the city is the only capital directly bordering two other countries (Austria and Hungary). Given its location in central Europe, it has witnessed momentous changes across the European landscape and itself has experienced occupation and the drastic effects of draconian governance, suppression and finally now is a time when the city can be what it wants to be.

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There are ten stories each penned by different authors, supported by a variety of translators. They appear more or less in historical order.

“A Fee from Britain” by Rudolf Sloboda (TR: David Short) is an entertaining story describing the tribulations of cashing in remuneration from England for a piece of written work and then evolves into the story of a writer and his encounters and musings. It is set in the 1990s.

“Obrcian and Vydarená” by Igor Hochel (TR: Charles Sabatos) brings to life the period under the secret police, the ŠtB in the 1980s.

“Summer in Bratislava” by Eva Vozárová (TR: Paul Kaye) is a good story to conclude, set in 30C+ temperatures, and capturing the sights and sounds of a modern building complex, focussing on the arrival of the ash cicada (an interloper from Croatia) in the crests of the trees. They make the sound through a membrane (rather than rubbing their legs together – who knew!). The narrator of the story ponders what word might be useful in describing the noise these newly arrived cicadas make. And finally the impact these creatures have. The writer is a sound artist and this comes through clearly in her words.

These 10 stories immerse the reader into Bratislava’s everyday and would really serve any traveller to the city well, before, during or after a trip.

Tina for the TripFiction Team

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