Ivan Štrpka grew up in southern Slovakia. In 1963-1969 he studied Slovak and Spanish at Comenius University in Bratislava. Štrpka entered literature as a member of Osamelí bežci (The Lonely Runners), a triumvirate of poets including himself, the late Ivan Laučík and Peter Repka. After 1968 he and the other Lonely Runners were not allowed to publish their work and he made a living as a dramaturge and writing song lyrics especially for the Slovak rock legend, Dežo Ursiny (1947-1995). By the mid-eighties, he became the editor in chief of the magazine Mladé rozlety and then the editor in chief of the newly established literary weekly, Literárny týždenník. From 1990 to 1993, he was the editor in chief of the weekly Kultúrny život and then in 1999 he became the editor in chief of the literary magazine Romboid until 2010. He has written essays and a work of fiction and books of selected poems have been published in numerous languages including Arabic, Bulgarian, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Polish and Spanish. A literary profile can be found on the Slovak National Literary Centre’s website: www.litcentrum.sk/en/author/ivan-strpka

Ivan Štrpka's work featured in Stand Magazine comprises one contribution of poetry.