Klemen Pisk

1973

Klemen Pisk is born in Kranj as the youngest son of Marija and Bojan Pisk, a poet.

He trains tennis at the tennis club Triglav Kranj and competes in tournaments in Maribor, Portorož, Ljubljana, Zagreb, Velenje, Celje, Kamnik and Kranj.

1991

He attends secondary school in Kranj and edits the literary journal Krogi.

At that time the Gustav jazz band is formed, and it gets the name from a Hungarian cartoon. Besides Pisk (vocal, guitar), the following members play in the group: Gašper Betoncelj (drums), Matej Rihter (trumpet), Rok Svetlič (guitar), Bojan Varjačič (bass).

1993

After graduation he goes to Ljubljana to study the Slovene language. He takes special delight in Polish and Slavic linguistics.

His poetry is presented in a one-hour radio broadcast, Zgodnja dela (Early Works).

He translates Sławomir Mrożek's short stories for the student magazine Tribuna of which he is also the editor.            

Klemen's versological critique of the translation of Mickiewicz's poems appears in Jezik in slovstvo (Language and Literature).

Klemen plays with Marijan Dović on Čopova Street in Ljubljana. Rok Svetlič, Klemen's schoolmate and ex-member of the Gustav jazz band, joins them on the contrabass. That is how the Žabjak trio is formed. It is named after the street in Ljubljana where they practise.

On the occasion of the Pope's visit to Slovenia, the translation of the play The Jeweller's Shop (Pred zlatarno) is published. John Paul II gets a copy of the book. The drama is performed in Ljubljana and Trieste as a radio play.

The book is Pisk's first book translation from the Polish language. He buys a vespa for the royalties.

Pisk's radio play Lahko noč, Matija Čop (Good Night, Matija Čop) gets an award in a competition on Radio Slovenia and is recorded two years later. It is also translated into the Polish language.

The Žabjak trio has their first concerts in Novo mesto.

The Pope's drama goes into print again.

The first book of poems, Labas vakaras, comes out. The book meets with a wide response. More than 10 critiques appear, and it is discussed on the TV program Pisave. It ranks among the best books of the year. The poem Puščavnik in volk (The Hermit and the Wolf), which appears in this book, is translated into many languages.

The Žabjak trio performs at the Trnfest Festival in Ljubljana.

The translation of the Pope's drama Brat našega Boga (Our God’s Brother) appears. It is staged by seminarists.

Klemen performs with Miran Štempihar at literary evenings all over Slovenia.

Their performances are organized by Klemen's agent Brane Šparl.

Klemen presents his song Kurtizana on the TV show Orion.

The second book of poetry, Visoko in nagubano prapočelo (High and Wrinkled Primordial Substance), appears. The preface is written by Primož Zevnik.

Klemen's poems are published in the Austrian literary journals Manuskripte and Lichtungen, translated by Simone Steharnig and Klaus Detlef Olof.

The first record of the Žabjak trio, Doktor piska počasni sving (The Doctor Pipes the Slow Swing), comes out. Klemen is the author of the majority of the songs – Moraliteta takes part in the Slovene Chanson Festival.

He participates in the poetry festival Medana, where he reads his poetry and performs with the Žabjak trio. His poems are translated into English by Vesna Zevnik.  

In March he travels to Dubrovnik with the publishing house Goga.

In May Agnieszka Będkowska Kopcyzk invites him to perform at the Festival of Science and Arts in Bielsko-Biała.

The third book of poetry, Mojster v spovednici (Master in the Confessional Box ), comes out.

In October he performs with Katja Plut at the Faculty of Philosophy in Brno and in Jastrzębie Zdrój.

He performs at the Frankfurt Book Fair.

The Czech journal Tvar publishes an interview with him. It also publishes his poems, which are translated by Hanna Chmelikova.

In February he performs in Sarajevo with Brina Vogelnik and in Warsaw with Kaja Jakopič.

He gets a schoolarship from the Institute of Culturology in Warsaw, where he stays in April and May. During that time he performs at Warsaw University and is interviewed for the Polish radio.

The stay in Poland is marked by a stolen front page scandal, in which the Polish poet Rymkiewicz is involved. The Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita writes about it and the publishing house Sic! pulls Rymkiewicz's book off the shelves.

In May he performs in Prague, in June in Pszczyna, in October in Brno.

The performance in Brno is organised by Petr Mainuš.

Klemen's song Rabelj takes part in the Slovene Chanson Festival.

The Žabjak trio changes its name to the Žabjak bend, and drummer Jaka Strajnar joins the group. The record Aristokrat (Aristocrat) comes out. Klemen Dvornik makes a video of the song Rasist, which is shown on television.

In December he visits Lithuania for the first time, where he performs at the Faculty of Philology in Vilnius. Anna Królik from Warsaw joins him to make a film about his performance.

In Warsaw he meets Jerzy Pilch and gives him the translation of the book Pod mocnym aniołem (The Strong Angel Inn).

His book of literary critiques Stihi pod nadzorom (The Verses Under Control) comes out.

Yulia Yunusova translates his poems into Russian and Laima Masytė into the Lithuanian language. Kamil Valšik publishes the translation of the short story Kako sem začel igrati šah (How I Started Playing Chess) in the Czech literary journal Babilon.

The book of poetry Tych kilka słów (Those Few Words), translated by Marcin Mielczarek, comes out in Poland.

Klemen sets out on a Polish tour and performs in Cracow, Gdansk, Warsaw, Katowice, Bielsko-Biała and Mikołów.

A CD with Klemen’s songs, translated by Iwona Goździkowska, is added to the book.

The Bosnian journal Odjek publishes his poems, which are translated by Silvija Dervišefendić.

The director Alenka Kraigher makes the film Gramatikus following Klemen's script. 

Klemen meets Tomas Venclova in Bled. Translations of his and Vladas Braziūnas's poetry are Klemen's first translations from the Lithuanian language.

In autumn he performs with Andraž Polič in Brno and Gal Gjurin and Marijan Dović in Gmünd.

He travels to Vilnius, Lithuania, where he stays for almost three years.

He performs in the Hall of Polish Culture, where his poems are read by Lithuanian singer Agnieška Dobrovolska, who also leads the literary evening. A report about the concert is presented on Lithuanian TV.

He writes a Polish-Slovene, Slovene-Polish dictionary, which is published the following year.

In November he makes a guest appearance in Helsinki, where he is invited by Liisi Khirug, who translates his poems into Finnish and does an interview for the magazine Kopeekka.

The first book ever translated into Slovene from the Lithuanian language comes out, Klemen's collection and translation of Lithuanian short stories Zgodbe iz Litve (Stories from Lithuania).

He is interviewed by Eglė Vaičytė for Lithuanian TV.

He has many important performances in Lithuania, including with Kostas Smoriginas.

He is interviewed on Lithuanian radio and for the magazine Literatūra ir menas.

In November he travels to Łódź with his agent and photographer Justina Dainovska to present his Polish book.

In December he performs at the St. Kristoforo school.

At the publishing house Nova revija the book of short stories Pihalec (The Blower) comes out with the date 2007.

The huge collection of Czeslaw Milosz's poetry Zvonovi pozimi (The Bells in Winter) is published under his editorship.

Yelena Balashova translates his short story Kako sem začel igrati šah  (How I Started Playing Chess) into the Russian language.

His translation of the book by Sigitas Parulskis Tri sekunde neba (Three Seconds of Heaven) comes out.  Klemen leads the literary evening with Parulskis in Ljubljana.

In October he travels to the Lithuanian translators' seminar in Nida.

In March he moves back to Slovenia after living in Lithuania for almost three years.

In June he is invited to the second world translators' congress in Cracow.

In October the book Pustovník a vlk (The Hermit and the Wolf) comes out in Slovakia. On this occasion Klemen performs at the Slovene embassy in Bratislava.

The American journal Fiction Fix publishes the short story Vilnius, which is nominated for the Pushcart Prize.

The anthology of Slovene short stories Auksas kišenėje (The Gold in the Pocket) appears in Lithuania and includes Klemen's story.