This Room Is Impossible to Eat

Tereza and Ivan share secrets. Tereza is now in art school away from the town where she grew up. Ivan is a teacher and artist. Tereza is now nineteen, Ivan is fifty-seven. They have known each other for years.

Tereza shares her secrets with her friend Silvia. Ivan does not tell anyone. He constructs memories of Tereza to keep in his bed at night, covering them with sweat and tears.

In this minimalist, poetic novella with autobiographical elements, Nicol Hochholczerova weaves a story of obsession and power and how both can lead to damage and separation. Rich with symbolism, its explosive themes - of eating disorder, abusive control and family dysfunction - are delicately handled with honesty and intelligence.

Nicol Hochholczerova, who was born in 1999, grew up in Rimavska Sobota, Slovakia. In 2024, she completed a Master's in graphic design at the Academy of Art in Banska Bystrica.
Her short stories have garnered prizes in a number of literary competitions. Her book-length debut, Tato izba sa neda zjest (This Room Is Impossible to Eat) was shortlisted for Slovakia's most prestigious literary prize, the Anasoft Litera Award, and has since been translated into Bulgarian, Czech, Hungarian, Serbian, Polish and Ukrainian, with German and Macedonian translations underway. A feature film based on the book is in production.
In 2022, Hochholczerova was named Young Artist of the Year by the Tatra Banka Foundation. The Polish translation was nominated for the Angelus literary prize, awarded to living authors from Central Europefic book.

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