The people from the merry-go-round
Audiobook
The people from the merry-go-round
Life Under the Big Top
A parallel world, a state within a state, the Vatican of showmen… Buying a ticket for a fairground ride is easy, but getting an interview with a showman, or even going on the road with them, is almost impossible. Kamila Hladká has spent the last two years systematically observing this world in various places across the country, bringing us authentic stories of several generations of Czech showmen. These stories capture the unique human destinies and the distinctive, often strange, atmosphere of fairs, caravans, carousels, shooting galleries, and haunted houses that have been an integral part of our tradition and culture for centuries. The desire for freedom, the romance of a bygone past, life on four wheels… the people of the fair.
Kamila Hladká
Kamila Hladká (*1981), a graduate of the doctoral programme in Czech Literature at Palacký University Olomouc, is a literary documentarian, book editor, life enthusiast, and author of the books Hornické vdovy (2019), Sestry (2021), and Lidi od kolotoče (2023). For her work, she was nominated for the Magnesia Litera award and the Ji.hlava Award for Best Documentary Book. She received a Commemorative Certificate from the Karviná City Council for outstanding artistic achievement and an Award for Spreading the Good Name of the Faculty of Arts at Palacký University. Her work has been adapted for radio as a serial reading and has also been staged (Jonáš Záborský Theatre Prešov, National Moravian-Silesian Theatre). In 2022–2023, photographs from her book Sestry reached the public through a touring exhibition of the same name by Jan Cága.
Dcera sestry, s.r.o., 664 43 Želešice, 24. dubna 495, [email protected]
