Alena Vostrá

Alena Vostrá (May 17, 1938, Prague – April 15, 1992, Prague) was a Czech novelist. One of her most popular works was A Matter of Days.

She was born as Rozená Obdržálková in Prague and in 1956, after graduating from the high school, studied engineering at Czech Technical University in Prague for two semesters, then stopped and started her studies at the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (DAMU). In 1960, she was expelled for "individualism", but she was eventually allowed to continue with her studies. In 1962, she started to specialize in dramaturgy. In 1963, she married the author Jaroslav Vostrý. Vostrá started to publish in 1963 and won a state prize for her first book aimed at adults, Bůh z reklamy. She graduated in 1966.

Alena Vostrá wrote mainly theater pieces and screenplays, as well as fiction and fairy tales for children. In the theater pieces, her characters often encounter the grotesque reality of life. In prose, she often underlines connections between seemingly unimportant things.

Novels

 * Vodní bubláček Tarabka
 * Kdo nevěří, ať tam jede 
 * Co dělá vítr, když nefouká 
 * Pepibubu
 * Kouzelný oblázek 
 * U nás ve Švandaluzii
 * Bůh z reklamy  (1964)
 * Vlažná vlna  (1966)
 * Všema čtyřma očima  (1982)
 * Než dojde k vraždě  (1985)
 * Výbuch bude v šest  (1985)
 * Tanec na ledě  (1988)
 * Médium (1991)
 * Benedikt Sluhou Barona Prasila  (1997, posthumous)

Plays

 * Na koho to slovo padne  (1967)
 * Na ostří nože  (1968)