Michal Černý (Czechia) is a writer, journalist, graphic designer and documentary maker. He was born in 1976 in Sokolov, where he still lives.
Education and career:
- 1997–2000: BA in Journalism, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University
- 2000–2005: MA in Media Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University
- 2004–2009: Editor, CHIP magazine
- 2010–2011: Editor-in-chief, ExtraNotebook
- 2013–present: Freelance journalist, contributing to Bild der Wissenschaft, Technology Review Germany, Respekt, Týden, VTM Science, 21. století, Computerworld, PC World, Regenerace, Vital, CHIP, Czech TV (ČT) and Czech Radio (ČRo)
- 2022: Graphic design education, Faculty of Design and Art (FDULS), Pilsen
- 2023: Member of the West Bohemian Writers' Centre
His fiction moves between action, horror and humour, built around a single idea: the fantastical only works if it feels entirely believable. He is drawn to stories that plant one fictional, even fantastical, element inside a thoroughly realistic world — in the tradition of Patrick Süskind's Perfume (the history of a man with a genius sense of smell), the Czech folk song "Jožin z bažin" (a swamp monster in Moravia said to devour visitors from Prague), John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids (a near-future vision in which humanity is blinded by a meteor shower, leaving carnivorous plants free to roam) and Josef Nesvadba's The Vampire of Ferat (a motor-racing thriller about a car that may run on human blood, drawn from the driver through the pedals).
Literary awards:
- Literární Šumava 2000 – First place, under-25 category
- Literární Šumava 2001 – Second place, over-25 category
- Literární Vysočina 2008 – Honourable mention
- Literární noviny Short Story of the Year, 2008
Bibliography: Povídky do vany (ArtKrist, 2025)
