From this time onwards, she has continuously published a literary work each year. Sylva Lauerová’s work to date has encompassed a wide range of genres and topics, and each work she publishes always surprises her readership with an innovative approach to narrative technique.
Her literary style is very distinctive with her modern approach to language; her style is very suggestive, impressively-paced and retains elements of authenticity.
Sylva Lauerová, the Czech writer and poet living on the Seychelles, is primarily known in the Czech Republic for her debut novel, the erotic bestseller The Toy. Although she has already written six books and is hardly a newcomer to the Czech literary scene, her work is often overlooked by the critics.
The reason for this? She is seen as too controversial and unpredictable. As she herself admits, she enjoys revealing the depths of the human soul; her books’ themes are often right on the edge of acceptability. However, Sylva Lauerová doesn’t only focus on provocative topics related to intimacy and emotions. With each new release, she continually expands her creative scope; it is nigh on impossible for fans to predict what awaits them in her next work, whether it be the theme, format or genre, which is exactly why Sylva Lauerová’s novels and poetry have made such an impression on so many of her readers.
Sylva Lauerová’s literary debut, the erotic novel The Toy, was released in time for the 2007 Christmas market. A complete unknown in literary circles up until this point, she achieved something absolutely unprecedented – her first book reached the top of the bestseller lists in only a few weeks, as if it were a long-awaited book by a well-established author.
While bookstore shelves were being restocked in early 2008 with the first edition (and after only six months, a second reprint) of the novel, fans of The Toy eagerly awaited its follow-up. Sylva Lauerová surprised all with Michael2007, a collection of poetry which she herself called a philosophical-religious riddle, and thus proved early on in her literary career that it would be unwise for others to cast her as merely a writer of erotic fiction. The spiritually-themed Michael2007 also gained its bedrock of fans. Moreover, nine key poems from the collection became the inspiration and model for the Czech artistic avant-garde of the third millennium. An installation of works of art inspired by the motifs central to Michael2007 was held at the Thámova Hall in Karlin, Prague and became one of the biggest exhibitions of the year.
The end of 2009 again brought a little something for keen admirers of Lauerová’s prose. The Slave, a provocative thriller, garnered Sylva Lauerová the title of most controversial contemporary Czech female writer. The notion of what absolute power over others does to a person, combined with the controversial theme of BDSM, attracted not only the public’s attention, but also that of the media.
The following year marked another literary diversion for Sylva Lauerová, who, instead of working on another blockbuster, focussed her creative talents in support of Czech poetry. The idea of creating an anthology of contemporary female love poetry had already come to her during the second half of 2009. In early 2010, the project was given a more concrete framework, and more than four hundred poems came together to form a whopping 560 pages in The Queens of Blackberries and Tears. Thus in terms of genre, her literary output had now become virtually unclassifiable.
Thanks to relentless interest and demand, the second revised version of Sylva Lauerová’s debut novel The Toy was released in autumn 2010, and a few months later, her next long-awaited work; Jumaroro, a mystery novel. A subtle whodunit set in the exotic surroundings of the Amazon rainforest, it is dedicated to all curious people everywhere and this time Sylva Lauerová offered a completely different kind of excitement. The resounding success of this book, admittedly intended for a much wider readership, confirmed that the distinctive literary style of Sylva Lauerová consistently attracts readers’ attention. Although the writer herself is constantly evolving and her literary style becoming more refined with every title, her novels still retain their distinctive features; attracting readers with their evocative and engrossing pace, the authenticity and openness with which the author describes the scenes, and a distinctive and modern approach to language. Unabashedly, she discusses the most pressing issues related to human intimacy, surpassing generally-considered norms of acceptability, thus forcing the reader to take a viewpoint and certainly not settling for indifference; combining the almost-irreconcilable, and touching on worthy internal themes while plumbing the imaginary depths of human psyche to invoke the darkest of human emotions. The juxtaposition of all these elements makes reading Sylva Lauerová’s novels a truly thrilling experience.
Following the commercially-successful novel Jumaroro, Sylva Lauerová again retreats into her shell of poetic intimacy in the collection A Harsh Ovation, a selection of her own poems from 2010 to 2012.
Sylva Lauerová regularly publishes articles in Czech magazines and participates in the creation and support of a wide range of artistic projects: exhibitions, art happenings and experimental fashion shows (the Michael2007 art exhibition by the Czech artistic avant-garde of the third millennium, the Fatamorgana fashion show, the IMPERSONED project, and the magazine Dressing Portfolio, among others).