Hic sunt homines

radek štěpánek

Radek Štěpánek’s fifth poetry collection introduces a new and compelling type of lyric poetry to the literary world – one that can broadly be described as environmental. The very title, Hic sunt homines – literally here live people – already offers readers an important clue. The collection reflects the human imprint on nature, with metaphors that gently and sensitively mirror the global challenges of the contemporary world through themes drawn both from the author’s homeland and from more distant, exotic landscapes.

Štěpánek’s poems are neither experimental nor self‑referential; instead, they are quietly meditative, while at the same time moral in tone and calling for reflection and responsibility. Their impact is further enhanced by photographs by Eva Lufferová. The afterword was written by Professor Hana Librová, author of the acclaimed book Faithful and Rational, in which selected poems by Radek Štěpánek were first published.

Radek Štěpánek (born 1986) is a poet, editor, and fisherman. He studied Media Studies and Journalism at Masaryk University in Brno and later completed a master’s degree in Environmental Humanities at the same institution. He is regarded as a central figure in contemporary Czech environmental poetry.

Cardiac output is the basic metric of blood flow performance – it describes the volume of blood being pumped by the heart, in particular by the left or right ventricle, per unit time. The figurative sense is needless to explain. It can only be added that the time unit is one human life.

The Cardiac Output series published fourteen titles of contemporary Czech poetry in collaboration with Masaryk University Press by the end of 2013. Vladimír Šrámek served as editor, and Leoš Knotek was responsible for the layout design. A number of poets, mainly based in Brno, were involved in the editorial work. In 2013, Cardiac Output was transformed into a voluntary group with the aim of reviving publishing activities as well as other cultural initiatives.