English

English Bio and Bibliography

Hermína Franková is a Czech writer. She graduated from Masarykova University’s School of Pharmacy. Her books were first published in the 60s. In 1968, she wrote a short story for children called Witch on a Broomstick, which was her inspiration to write the original story for a fantasy film/comedy entitled Girl on a Broomstick. In the 60s, she also wrote a wide range of books for adults, some of which were published abroad. In the 70s, she was prohibited from publishing for political reasons, and so she worked as a pharmacist. In that time, she published several books under other authors‘ names. Beginning in the 80s, she began publishing once again under her own name. She returned to the theme of witches and wrote a screenplay for a mini-series of fantasy comedies entitled Fire Women. Starting in the 90s, she began writing again full-time. She participated in writing the screenplay for Cinelabyrinth for the exhibition in Osaka, Japan. In the 90ies Hermína Franková was approached to collaborate on the sequel to Girl on the Broomstick, but that project never happened, and she was not involved with the sequel done in 2011. Hermína Franková loves Southern Bohemia, which has inspired several of her books such as Lake Boy (published also in France) and Hooray! Let’s Travel the World (2014). Hermína Franková loves dogs, children, traveling, swimming, novels by the Moroccan author Daniel Pennac, good food, Campari and her family. Nowadays, she spends most of the time with her family. She has two daughters, three granddaughters and one great granddaughter.

Listen to the interview with Hermína Franková on The Projection Booth (2021). The podcast is about the movie Girl on the Broomstick, the interview  starts at 1:17:00.

Bibliography

Hermína Franková writes books for children and adults, as well as screenplays. Her books and stories were published in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Germany, Switzerland, UK and France. Books in bold are available in English, German or French.

Books for Children

  • Panáček Švícko-1961
  • Plavčík a sardinky-1965.
  • Město hraček-1968
  • Čarodějnička na koštěti (Witch on a Broomstick)-1968
  • In: Modern Tales and Fables : How the Sardines Learned to Walk, The Scholar,  1969 (United Kingdom)
  • Jedna zrzka navíc-1976 (under the name Josef Vinař), 1990 (under her own name)
  • Ani v noci, ani ráno-1979 (under the name Josef Vinař)
  • Poslední prázdniny-1980 (under the name Jarmila Černíková-Drobná)
  • Vendula aneb francouzština pro pokročilé-1981, 2000, Ki tud franciául?, 1981 (Hungary), Ein Versteck für Paul, 2003 (Germany)
  • Minervistka-1984
  • Dívka na koštěti (Girl on a Broomstick) -1987(co-author M.Macourek) 2002
  • Kluk od vody-1987, Le garçon du lac, 1991, Nathan (France)
  • Lékárníkových holka – 1996
  • Čarodějnice bez koštěte – 2006
  • Jupí, jdeme do světa! – 2014
  • Padavka a bezva pes – 2016
  • Slečna Florence a pátrací četa – 2019

Books for Adults

  • Děti platí polovic?-1961, Kinder die Hälfte?, 1965 (Germany)
  • Vánoce v hotelu-  1964
  • Blázni a Pythagoras-1966, 1994 , Die Narren und Pythagoras, 1966 (Switzerland)
  • Blázni mají propustky- 1969
  • Helena v lázni-1971
  • Ubohý Džony-1988
  • Ohnivé ženy (Fire Women) -1992, 2004
  • Hlavně dýchat – 2006
  • In : Cahová, I., Gilk, E., Lukáš, M., Tobě zahynouti nedám – 2017 : Žil jeden zlatník.

Film, TV, Theatre

  • U Černé Matky boží – 1962, theatre  (directed by J.Dudek)
  • Nechte maličkých – 1967
  • Dívka na koštěti (Girl on a Broomstick) –  1971, original story Hermína Franková (screenplay  M.Macourek, directed by V.Vorlíček)
  • Jak se naučit švédsky – 1979, (directed by I.Toman)
  • Babička se nám zbláznila- 1982, (directed by J.Krejčík)
  • Levé křídlo – 1983 (directed by J.Hanibal, screenplay M.Pavlík)
  • Takový talent – 1983 (directed by J.Bonaventura)
  • Vendulka a Jirka ve městě hraček– 1983 (radio stories in „Hajaja“, directed by H.Philippová)
  • Ohnivé ženy (Fire Women)  – 1984 (directed by Z.Podskalský)
  • Ohnivé ženy se vracejí (Fire Women Return)  – 1986 (directed by Z.Podskalský)
  • Ohnivé ženy mezi námi (Fire Women Among Us) – 1986 (directed by Z.Podskalský)
  • Nejlepší kšeft mého života – 1988, (directed by J.Adamec)
  • Kinolabyrint (Cinelabyrinth) – 1990, screenplay for the World Expo’90 exhibition in Ósaka,Japan:  (screenplay co-author M.Macourek, project author dr.R.Činčera)
  • Lékárníkových holka– 1996 (directed by A.Procházková)
  • Politik a herečka-  2001(directed by J.Herz)
  • Saxana – 2019, musical, original theme Hermína Franková (directed by Š.Caban)