Editorial
Today's Czech Republic is a transient place, with travelers and residents coming and going in a manner that makes Prague a sort of gateway to both Western and Eastern cultures. As former Prague Post critic Steffen Silvis once referred to Poland as a sort of "Baroque Nebraska," Prague has likewise felt to me as a sort of European St. Louis, with a large and modern TV tower rather than an arch. Prague, in short, is a city of pioneers – regardless where they are bound for, ultimately.
For this Czech–centric issue of Ekleksographia, the writing selected (by myself and Jesse Glass) presents an eclectic mix of styles, genres, and perspectives by authors whose identities are somehow uniquely fused with this small country known as both Absurdistan and the Heart of Europe. The writers in this issue include Czechs, Russians, and other Slavs, as well as Scandinavians, Brits, Americans, and others who, evident by their contributions to the project, find their identities shaped somehow by Czech culture.
In terms of editing, I chose to spend that time selecting what might make the best word–collage of the place I now call home. As many of the writers presented here are non-native speakers/writers of English, the phrase "broken English" is a misnomer. I did my best to correct spelling, but I found the subtle variations in syntax, for example, to be refreshing, and I thus left them as–is. If 'proper' grammar/syntax had been historically upheld by the Language Police, then 'proper' Latin would never have yielded the Romance tongues that so enrich today's world.
Naturally, I want to thank those whose work appears here, but I also want to thank those whose submissions were not selected for the issue – I urge you to continue sharing your otherworldly experiences.
—Jason Mashak
Prague, Czech Republic
Miroslava Nacinova and Jason Mashak
Ekleksographia:
Wave Two
March, 2010
Fiction
Jason Mashak
Jason Mashak's writing has been published in Oregon English Journal, Heavy Bear, Black Heart Magazine, The Smoking Poet, Venereal Kittens, Willows Wept Review, Turntable and Blue Light, The Refined Savage, GRASP, Rakish Angel, and other journals. His first book of poetry, Salty As a Lip, was published by Haggard and Halloo (Austin, Texas) in 2010. A Great Lakes native, Mashak lives in Prague.