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The writer and journalist Martin M. Šimečka was a key figure in ��������ia’s unofficial culture before the Velvet Revolution of 1989. As the son of a prominent dissident he had to do manual labor while publishing his texts in samizdat. In 1990 he co-founded the publishing house Archa. His works of fiction, the novella Žabí rok (The Year of the Frog, 1983) and the collection of short stories ��ž������(Genie, 1987) were translated into several languages. He is, however, primarily known for his journalism. His articles, published by numerous papers and journals in ��������ia and abroad, mainly focus on the political and cultural situation in ��������ia. He has held a number of high-ranking positions in the daily and weekly press media: he was editor-in-chief of the �������� weekly Domino fórum and of the daily SME, as well as of the Czech weekly Respekt. He is currently on the editorial board of the independent �������� daily Denník N. His collection of essays, Medzi Slovákmi (Among ��������s) came out in 2017.