Salty Mascara

Salty Mascara, Valentýna Janů, Academy of Fine Arts in Prague (AVU), 2020, 100 pp., Illustrations: M. Groch

Salty Mascara is a book of visual poetry by Valentýna Janů that explores the connection between everyday banalities and contemporary socio-environmental issues. The texts range from short Instagram observations to personal philosophical meditations to reflections on the climate crisis and social identities—the author shows that these spheres cannot be separated and invites readers to think about how to be an environmentally conscious person without losing authenticity.

The book won second place in the Czech competition for the Most Beautiful Czech Books in the Fiction category.