Imrich, Jozef 1958-

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IMRICH, Jozef 1958-

PERSONAL:

Born June 5, 1958, in Kezmarok, Spis, Czechoslovakia; son of Jozef (a carpenter) and Maria (a chef; maiden name, Pecharcikova) Imrich; married February 10, 1984; wife's name Lauren (a business analyst); children: Alexandra, Gabriella. Education: Sydney Technological College, diploma (library science), 1983; Deakin University, B.A. (politics), 1991; Flinders University, diploma (business management), 1996. Politics: "Victory over want." Religion: Christian.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Box 139, Grange 4051, Queensland, Australia. Office—Queensland Writers Centre, Metro Art, Brisbane 4000, Queensland, Australia. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Researcher, clerk, and memoirist. Technomat, Poprad, Czechoslovakia, buying agent, 1979-80; New South Wales Legislature, Sydney, Australia, reference officer and clerk to committees. Military service: Czech Army, 1977-79.

MEMBER:

Victory over Want, Amnesty International, Toastmasters International, Queensland Writing Centre.

WRITINGS:

Cold River: A Survivor's Story (memoir; e-book), Double Dragon (Markham, Ontario, Canada), 2002, revised, 2003.

Contributor of essays to periodicals.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

Stranger in the House, for Double Dragon, 2004.

SIDELIGHTS:

Jozef Imrich considers his greatest achievement to have escaped through the Iron Curtain from Czechoslovakia to Austria in July of 1980, a trip during which two of his best friends drowned. Imrich told CA: "As a survivor living in an exile, mothered by necessity, my stories reflect a search for identity that is inspired by the memory of my drowned friends, ghosts of my communist upbringing, and the cold reality of homelessness. I realized some time ago that I am not the most talented wrier. But I have the determination needed to succeed. In the region of my heart I somehow feel that I needed to endure my own suffering in order to make people believe in a struggle of freedom. My work provides a voice for all those like myself, who are lost in the sea of ironic macroisms of human life, and who need to learn how to express their hidden emotions. I create a reflection of my experience that is also a reflection of experiences of thousands and thousands of Eastern and Central Europeans.

"What currently fascinates me is the duality of views on migration, our ability to be imbued with such goodness and yet have a capacity for such evil. For one generaton of boat people to have the heart to drown the next generation of boat people."