Svetlana Žuchová, born in 1976, studied psychology at Vienna University and medicine at the Medical Faculty of Comenius University in Bratislava. She works at a psychiatric clinic in Prague. Her stories have been published in journals including Dotyky, Rak, Romboid, Vlna, OS and the weekly Slovo.
Twice she was awarded prizes at the annual short story competition Poviedka (in 2001 and 2005) and her texts appeared in anthologies of works from this competition. Her first book was the story collection Dulce de leche (2003), for which she received the Ivan Krasko Prize. Next came the chamber novella Yesim (2006), set in the milieu of Turkish emigrants in Austria and based on the poetical narrative monologue of the principal character, the young woman Yesim, about the key events and circumstances of her life. In the novel Zlodeji a svedkovia (Thieves and Witnesses, 2011), the author continued to pursue her interest in the psychology of a person living away from home, and also explored relationships within immigrant communities. Her third novel, linked with its predecessor by the narrator and main character Marisia, is Obrazy zo života M. (Scenes from the Life of M., 2013). All three novels were included in the final of the most important Slovak literary competition Anasoft Litera (2007, 2012 and 2014).
Žuchová also translates fiction and non-fiction from English and German, including works by Michel Faber, Sarah Kane, and Sophie Kinsella.