Vítězslav Nezval, 1900-1958, was an avant-garde Czech writer and the cofounder of the Surrealist movement in Czechoslovakia. After being discharged from the Austrian army during WWI due to illness, Nezval moved to Prague and began studying philosophy at Charles University. Though he never received a degree, he remained interested in Marxist ideology. He was one of the original nine members of the artist group Devětsil. He and his fellow group members founded the Poetism movement of Czech literature, an avant-garde approach to poetry that emphasized emotion, everyday objects, and a lack of punctuation. Nezval produced several poetry collections, experimental works, plays, novels, and translations.

Jaroslav Seifert, 1901-1986, was a Czechoslovakian writer, poet, and journalist. He published his first collection of poetry, Město v slzách (City in Tears) in 1921 and continued to publish his works for the next six decades. He was a member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and worked as an editor for several Communist magazines and newspapers until 1929 when he left the party in protest over changes in party leadership. He also helped to found the avant-garde artist group Devětsil. His poetry won many prizes, including the designation "National Artist" in 1967 and the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1984.