Ivan Lesay

My guest on this episode is Ivan Lesay. Ivan is a senior climate finance advisor at the National Bank of Slovakia and has served as the State Secretary of that country’s Finance Ministry. In addition to his policy work, he has published two children’s books, and writes lyrics for a hardcore band. His debut novel for adults, Topografia bolesti, was published in 2020, and was shortlisted for the Slovak National Book of the Year award. An English translation of the novel, The Topography of Pain, translated by Jonathan Gresty, was published by Canada’s Guernica Editions in 2024. In its review of The Topography of Pain, The Miramichi Reader said that “Lesay is comfortable with data and figures, no doubt; he’s also gifted with words.”

Ivan and I talk about the (mostly) friendly rivalry between Slovaks and Czechs, and how that parallels Canada’s relationship with the US, about suddenly adding a side-career as a novelist to his distinguished work in economic policy, and about how, thanks to COVID, his novel never got a proper launch event until the publication of the translated version last year.

This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.

Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission.