Monika Kompaníková

Monika Kompaníková studied at the Academy of Fine Art in Bratislava and is an incredibly versatile writer, excelling at short stories, children’s books and rock lyrics.  Her novel The Fifth Boat was published in English translation in 2021, shortlisted for the 2022 EBRD literature prize.  It tells the story of a lonely little girl, Jarka, who, feeling abandoned by her mother, wanders around the neighbourhood, steals a set of six-month old twins, and, with the runaway boy, Christian, creates her new “family”.