Short Bio
Jan Kotouč has published almost two dozen novels in his native Czech with many being translated into English. His original works include the epic sci-fi Central Imperium series, the Czech Lands alternative history series and the military sci-fi Hirano Sector series. He has contributed to numerous anthologies and universes including stories for the Honor Harrington series by David Weber, the 1632 universe by Eric Flint and The Fallen World by Christopher Wood and Chris Kennedy.
He created the sci-fi setting and story background for the European Cybersecurity Challenge held in Prague in 2021. He is in charge of book-related program tracks on many conventions including the Comic-Con Prague. He is also a lecturer at the University of Creative Communication where he teaches writing workshops.
Long Bio
Jan Kotouč was born in Prague, Czech Republic, and is an author of two dozen novels and numerous short stories in his native Czech with many being available in English. After winning a prestigious Karel Čapek Prize literary contribution, he got a book contract and published his first novel in 2009. Since then he’s been steadily writing novels ranging from genres science fiction to alternative history. He has been writing full-time since 2020.
The first in English was his epic sci-fi Central Imperium series, often described as “Miles Vorkosigan meets Star Wars”.
His best-selling Czech series is the award-winning alternative history series Czech Lands. His first series was seven-book military SF saga Hirano Sector.
In the Honor Harrington universe created by David Weber, Jan has worked on a novella for an anthology What Price Victory.
In the 1632 series by Eric Flint, Jan has written a short story along with Lucie Lukačovičová for the Grantville Gazette.
Other series which he contributed to in English and Czech include The Fallen World by Christoper Wood and Chris Kennedy as well as the Czech JFK series of adventure novels.
He also developed the sci-fi setting and story background for the European Cybersecurity Challenge, a prestigious pan-European championship of cybersecurity students that was hosted by Prague in 2021.
He is a popular speaker at numerous conventions and runs book-related program tracks on several of them, including Comic-Con Prague.
Jan also teaches creative writing workshops at the University of Creative Communication and Speculative Literature at the University of New York Prague, which is also his alma mater, where he got the degree in Communication and Mass Media. He used to work as a logistics coordinator, a publisher and an English teacher.
He enjoys travelling, reading, learning about history, playing video games and talking to random people. He lives in Prague.