EUROPEAN LITERATURE TODAY:

UNIVERSAL STORIES OF PERSONAL REVOLUTIONS

 EUROPEAN LITERATURE TODAY:
UNIVERSAL STORIES OF PERSONAL REVOLUTIONS

The main idea of the project European Literature Today: Universal Stories Of Personal Revolu-
tions is to explore trough literature relationship between the individual and the history. Turbulent
European history - its warfare and reconciliations, migrations and settlements, great people and
great events – was always an inexhaustible inspiration for the writers of the Old Continent. Each
chosen work, speaks about common people and their personal revolutions against the large social
and political issues and events.
Project includes works of 6 authors from 6 different countries of European Union. Two authors
are winners of EUPL. List of selected titles includes one poetry book, two short story collections
and three novels. All authors won significant prizes for their work: renewed Latvian Oswalds
Zebris and Tiit Aleksejev from Estonia are winners of EUPL with the novels “Gailu kalna ena” and
“Palveränd”. One of main goals of this project is presenting to Serbian readership entirely un-
known literature from small Baltic countries like Latvia and Estonia. Another writer from Baltic
region is Polish poet Eugeniusz Tkaczyszyn-Dycki winner of Nike Literary Award and Gdynia
Literary Award. His works have been adapted to theatre and played all across Poland. World
famous English writer Hilary Mantel is the only woman who has been awarded the Booker Prize
twice. Novel "A Place of Greater Safety" represents beginning the one of most exiting carriers in
Europe’s contemprary literarture. Mircea Cãrtãrescu is arguably biggest contemporary Romanian
writer and with awarded book "Frumoasele straine" he just proved that. Judit Szaniszló is new
literary star from Hungary. With short story collection “Beenged” she already earned the title of
the most talented young writer in the country by literary critics: she won György Petri Award in
2015 and Pál Békés Award in 2017. All selected titles will be translated into Serbian language for
the first time and published both as book and e-book.
 Eugeniusz Tkaczyszyn-Dycki is an acclaimed Polish writer who received a degree in philology
from the Polish UMTS. Inspite of being often marked as an “underground poet”, Dycki won nu-
merous prestigious literary prizes : Literary Prize Barbara Sadowska (1994), Award of the Ger-
zbog čega najpre umiru man-Polish Literature Days in Dresden (1998), Gdynia Literary Award (2006), Hubert Burda Preis
jedni pa zatim drugi (2007), Gdynia Literary Award (2009). Dycki published 17 books of poetry, and many of them
were enthusiastically accepted from critics and readers, putting him at the center of the Europe-
na samom kraju pak odlaze pesnici an poetry scene, with many critics hailing him as the best Polish poet of XXI century. His poetry
was also adapted for theatre. He is a member of the Polish Writers Association since 1993.
koje niko ne oplakuje
Eugenijuš Tkačišin Dicki, Zbog čega najpre umiru

Collection “Rzeczywiste i nierzeczywiste staje si jednym ciałem. 111 wierszy” came as a response to
significant awards that author received. Poems are organized chronologically, by themes, in order to fol-
low details from autobiography of Dycki. Initial poems are telling about childhood under Soviet Union. It
is a strange, cold world full of incomprehensible words and toponyms. The poet suppresses nothingness,
the whole labyrinth of repeated words (wind, rain, dirt, disease, bones) and phrases, but they aren’t the
keys to the doorways leading into or out, but the points of convergence of different paths of this strange
poetry building.
Dycki’s poetry investigates and redefines the links between death and the erotic, reality and unreal. He
has an unusual ability to present drastic problems and situations in a masterful, awe-inspiring way. Dy-
cki's poetry has never been translated into Serbian, so this will be important literary event in Serbian
publishing.
Translator
Milica Markić (1966) has over 20 years of experience in translating from Polish to Serbian. She gradu-
ated in 1991 at the Department of Polonistics of the Faculty of Philology in Belgrade and she got certified
proficiency in Polish and Serbian. She is the member of the Association of Literary Translators of Serbia
since 2004.
Published translations: “Without You” by Anna Augustyniak (2017); “The Hangman without Mask” by
Andrzej Bursa (2016); “Somewhere Further, Somewhere else” by Dariusz Czaja (2016); “Independence
Avenue” by Krzysztof Varga (2015); “Sanatorium Under The Sign of Hourglass” by Bruno Schulz (2014);
“Drive Your Plough Over the Bones of the Dead” by Olga Tokarczuk (2014); “Critical museum” by Pi-
otr Piotrowski (2013); “Sawdust” by Krzysztof Varga (2013); “Our erotic drama” by Witold Gombrowicz
(2013); “Trans-Atlantic” by Witold Gombrowicz (2013); “Primeval and other times” by Olga Tokarc-
zuk (2013); “Love and responsibility” by Karol Wojtyła (2013); “Baptism of Fire” by Andrzej Sapkowski
(2012); “Turul Goulash” by Krzysztof Varga (2011); “Beguni” by Olga Tokarczuk (2010); “Pornografia” by
Witold Gombrowicz (2010) “Memory and Identity” by John Paul II (2008); “Playing on a lot of drums” by
Olga Tokarczuk (2004); “In the desert and the rainforest” by Henryk Sienkiewicz (2003); “In search of a
book” by Olga Tokarczuk (2002); and many more.
She was participant in many translation seminars and project: Found In Translation – second Gdansk
Meetings of Literary Translators in Gdańsk, Poland, (2015); Translator’s Collegium – the study visits
program for translators of Polish literature organized by Book Institute in Krakow, jointly with the Jagiel-
lonian University and the Villa Decius (2014); Translators Without Borders – international seminar for
translators in Wrocław, Poland (2013) as well as First, Second, Third and Four World Congress of Literary
Translators of Polish Literature in Krakow (2005, 2009, 2013).
Hilary Mantel is an acclaimed English writer of personal memoirs, short stories and historical fiction.
She has won many awards and she is the only woman who has been awarded the Booker Prize twice: in
2009 with the novel “Wolf Hall” and 2012 with the novel “Bring Up the Bodies”. Her other works got
great critical acclaim: novel “Fludd” (1989) received Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize, Cheltenham Prize
and Southern Arts Literature Prize, all in 1990; “An Experiment in Love” (1996) won the Hawthornden
Prize; novel “The Giant, O'Brien” (1998) was adapted for BBC Radio 4 and her memoir “Giving Up the
Ghost” (2003) won the MIND "Book of the Year" award. For the novel “A Place of Grater Safety” (1992)
she was awarded the Sunday Express Book of the Year prize in the year of publishing. Mantel also writes
reviews and essays, mainly for The Guardian, the London Review of Books and the New York Review of
Books.
 Translator

Slobodanka Glišić (1949) graduated from the Faculty of Philology, University of Belgrade at the Depart-
ment for World Literature and Theory of Literature. She holds M. A. thesis in Theory of Literature. She
is working as a freelance literary translator since 1982. She has received the most prestigious Serbian
Translation Award “Miloš Djurić” for the best translation in 2003, for Stanley Cohen’s “States of Denial.
Knowing about Atrocities and Suffering” (2003). Her selected list of translations includes: Slavoj Zizek’s
“Metastases of Enjoyment” (1996); Henry Kissindžer’s “Years of Renewal” (2000, co-translator); “Struc-
ture and Function in Primitive Society” by A. R. Redcliffe-Brown (1982); “The Singer of Tales” by Albert
B. Lord (1990); “The Interpretation of Cultures” by Clifford Geertz (1998); “The White Hotel” (1998)
“A Place of Grater Safety”, monumental fictive account of the French Revolution, takes us far back into
and “Charlotte” (2001) by D. M. Thomas; “The End of the Affair” by Graham Green (2000); “The Broken
the past, to the time of Dumas’ and Dickens’ fictional worlds. Three main characters, Camille Desmoulins,
Covenant” by Robert N. Bellah (2003); story collection “You are not a Stranger Here” by Adam Haslett
Maximilien Robespierre and Georges-Jacques Danton are in the early stages of organizing a revolution.
(2004); “Cultural Intimacy” by Michael Herzfeld (2004); “The Good Doctor” by Damon Galgut (2004);
Mantel shines a light on the most personal parts of their life: childhood, love, relationships with others,
“The Falcon and the Eagle: Montenegro and Austria-Hungary, 1908-1914” by John D. Treadway (2005);
knowing that it will help in to discover who these men were as adults.
“Spies” by Michael Frayn (2005); “The Statement” by Brian Moore (2005); “Strategies of Genius. Sigmund
“A Place of Grater Safety” is historical fiction at its best, consistent of vivid specter of historical figures’
Freud, Leonardo da Vinci, Nikola Tesla” by Robert. B. Dilts,Volume III, (2008, with Dušan Janić and
and (where possible) their own words, from their speeches or writings. This almost 800 pages long work
Slavica Miletić); “Knockin' on Heaven's Door: The Bible and the Popular Culture” by Roland Boer (2008);
reveals the intimate side of the French revolution.
“Blood Rain” (2009) and “Back to Bologna” (2010) by Michael Dibdin; “Disintegration in Frames. Aesthet-
So far, only 3 novels of this significant author have been translated into Serbian, and having in mind Man-
ics and Ideology in the Yugoslav and Post-Yugoslav Cinema” by Pavle Levi (2009, with Ana Grbić); “What
tel’s importance as writer in contemporary European and world literature, we believe that publication of
is Populism?” by Jan-Werner Müller (2017), etc.
this monumental novel will stimulate more translations of her work.
Also, she has translated numerous articles for reputable literary journals. She is a member of Association
of Literary Translators of Serbia.
Osvalds Zebris is an acclaimed Latvian writer and journalist born in 1975 in Riga. He worked in public
relations and communications and as an editor for various newspapers and magazines. Zebris’ first book, a
collection of short stories “Briviba tiklos” won him a Latvian Literature Award in 2010 for the best debut.
With his novel “Gaiu kalna n” Zebris was nominated for the Latvian Literature Award in 2015 and won the
European Union Prize for Literature in 2017. He is a member of the Latvian Writers’ Union.

Historically placing his novel Gailu kalna ena in 1905, Osvald Zebris finds the Russian Tsar in the atmos-
phere of impending revolution. Zebris is creating a world full of tension and people who are living on the
edge of existence. The very nature of the war is that it divides people and they have to choose, maybe
unwillingly, which side to fight on, in a cause that is not always clear to them. The character of Rudolfs
Reiznieks is full of contemplation of the past and the future, constantly in search of self-forgiveness and
inner peace. Situations like the child kidnapping will shatter the lives of two families, as they struggle to
understand who is guilty in a revolution where all sides are victims.
Zebris tells a story about the landmark historical moment for Latvian people, the moment of attaining
their own country, all the while never forgetting the everyday man. This magnificent book gives historical
insight into the situation in Riga, but maybe more important - the state of mind of its inhabitants, mark-
ing one of the biggest moments in their history.
Translator
Aleksandar Šurbatović (1973) graduated from the Faculty of Philology of Belgrade University, Compara-
tive Literature and Theory of Literature where he has specialized in XIX century American literature. He
has been working as a translator since 2003 and has great experience on the field of translation from Eng-
lish into Serbian. He has been working as an Editor for Foreign Literature in Serbian publishing houses
like Dereta, Filip Višnjić, Mali vrt, so he is constantly connected with new currents in contemporary world
literature, especially in literary translation issues. The titles he has translated into Serbian includes “I'm
Nobody! Who are you?” poems by Emily Dickinson; "Ancient Egypt" by Charlotte Booth; “When Perra
Trees Whisper” by Ahmet Umit; "Travel Writings" by Henry James; “Sins of the House of Borgia” by Sa-
rah Bower, “1001 albums you have to hear before you die” by Robert Dimery (Editor); “Ancient Rome”
by Ray Laurence; “Get Out of my Life...” by T. Wolf and S. Franks, etc. He is the member of Association of
Literary Translators of Serbia. He is also awarded author, he wrote two novels and two collection of po-
ems. Occasionally he is columnist for some of most prominent Serbian newspapers like Politika.
Tiit Aleksjev, acclaimed Estonian writer, graduated from the University of Tartu with a master’s degree
in Medieval History. Also, he was diplomat in Paris and Brussels. Since April 2016, Aleksejev is the chair-
man of the Estonian Writers´ Union. Aleksejev won many awards for his literary work, such as the annual
award from the literary magazine Looming in 1999 for his first short story “Tartu rahu” and the Betti Al-
ver Prize for best debut novel in 2006 for “Valge kuningriik”. The novel “Palveränd”, published 2008, won
the European prize for Literature in 2010.
 Translator

Jasmina Jovanović (1969) graduated at the Department for Bulgarian language and literature, Faculty of
Philology in Belgrade. She is now engaged as a lecturer in the performance of subjects Bulgarian Litera-
ture and Contemporary Bulgarian Language at the same Department.
Her list of translation titles includes novel “Взвишение” by EUPL winner Milen Ruskov (2017), novel "Kr-
tica. Dolina cipela" by Boris Hristov (2000), novel by Svetlana Dičeva "Mona i Magelan" (2008), as well as
voluminous historical novel by Valko Mišev "Izaslanik iz Levanta"(2014) and works by Kalin Terziskiy.
She is author of Bulgarian elementary schoolbooks and several publications in professional journals. Her
“Palveränd”, an adventure novel by Tiit Aleksejev, is the first book from the trilogy “Lugu esimesest ris- translators work includes series of individual translations in magazines, publications and chrestomathies.
tisõjast”. The story is based on the chronicles of the First Crusade in the 11th century and begins with the The title of her master thesis was "Љубавна поезија Јелисавете Багрјане и Десанке Максимовић" (Love
declaration of the Pilgrimage by Pope Urbanus II. Dieter the servant, who will later become a soldier, a poetry by Jelisaveta Bagrjana and Desanka Maksimović - literary comparison).
fictional character who reminds us of Voltaire's Candide, will find himself in the middle of major histori-
cal events, bearing witness to an era. Dieter is a character who does not belong anywhere, but who is pre-
sent everywhere. Interesting meditative visions, inner monologues and the question of what ideals made
people go and suffer is like a psychological review of the inner ideals of the crusaders. The novel is about
the importance of human relations as well, of loyalty, love, friendship. In order to write “Palveränd”, Alek-
sejev researched material for ten years and visited the main battle scenes in the Holy Land, so the novel,
written with accuracy of the reconstruction of the medieval world, tells us the story of the inner values
of the time, but at the same time, whether the medieval ones or those of the present day, the conflicts
between the East and the West, in very original and beautiful language. Having in mind that there is no
translators from Estonian into Serbian have planned to translate this book from Bulgarian language (see
E.4)
Judit Szaniszló is an acclaimed Hungarian author that achieved huge success with her book “Beenged”,
winning numerous prizes such as György Petri Award in 2015 and Pál Békés Award in 2017. She has rep-
resented Hungary at the European First Novel Festival in 2017, held during the Budapest International
Book Festival. She has been publishing in prestigious literary journals since 2008, and she is one of best
known Hungarian bloggers. In 2008, Örkény Theatre performed a one-act drama based on her blog en-
tries.

Szaniszló’s success with “Beenged” earned her the title of the most talented young writer in the country
by opinion of literary critics. Connecting with the readers in a very intimate way, “Beenged” is one of the
most originals books published in Hungary recently. It’s consistent of very short stories, some of them
almost poetic-alike (“Nigella”, “Unásig én”, “Óvatos lányság asszonykorban”) written in a simple and clear
style. This unique collection depicts a woman in her thirties, everyday challenges, life in an office, and
loneliness in relationships. These stories invite us to take a peek into the everyday life of their charac-
ters, and the author senses and enhances the emotions and problems we might otherwise not pay enough
attention to. With her, “Beenged” communicates with readers, but not at the expense of losing the high
literary quality of her writing. Szaniszló is constantly reminding us of the small things in life that can, in
her hands, overwhelm us and give perspective to our world. Because of her interest in everyday life and
humor, her writing is sometimes marked by the critics as An Eastern European female Jonathan Franzen.
Translator
Marija Cindori Šinković (1950) is professor of Hungarian language and literature at Faculty of Philol-
ogy, University of Belgrade. She was Chef of Department for Hungarian Studies for 8 years. She worked
at the Institute at first as expert for Hungarian studies on project Comparative study of Serbian literature,
and later on the project History of Serbian literary periodicals of the XX century. She submitted her PhD
dissertation on the topic of Ady Endre in 2005 at the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad. Also, she worked
as a contrastive proofreader of three-volume Hungarian-Serbian dictionary for Institute of Hungarian
studies in Novi Sad. She has translated, among others, following works: "Török tükör" (2009) by EUPL
winner Viktor Horvàth; "Boldog észak" (2016) by Kun Árpád; "Anyakép, amerikai keretben" (2009) by
Miklós Vajda; "A kelet-európai avantgarde irodalom" (1977) by Endre Bojtár; "Jel es kiáltás; A neoavant-
garde" (1971) by Szabolcsi Miklós; "Kitömött barbár" (2017) by Gergely Péterfy; Jožef Guljaš's "Egyre
közelabb a tengerhez" as well as "A türelem bilincsei : versek" (2012) by Endre Ady, to mention just few.
She was senior lecturer at the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad and participated in more than two dozen
scientific conferences in the country and abroad. She is member of Matica srpska (Serbian Cultural Socie-
ty), International Society for Hungarian Studies, as well as member from diaspora of Hungarian Academy
of Science. Fer field of interest are Hungarian-Serbian literary links, history, literature and literary peri-
odicals, aesthetics and contemporary literary issues.
Mircea Cartarescu is an acclaimed Romanian writer, essayist and the professor of literature at the Uni-
versity of Bucharest. He is is regarded as the most important living Romanian writer. He became world
famous with his prose works “Nostalgia”, “Orbitor” and “De ce iubim femeile”. His works have been
published in thirty editions and translated to twelve languages. He received awards from the Romanian
Academy, the Union of Romanian Writers, the Union of Moldovan Writers, the Association of Professional
Writers, the Romanian Publishers' Association. In 1992 the French translation of "Nostalgia" was nomi-
nated for the Médicis Prize and the Best Foreign Book Award, and in 2005 it won the Giuseppe Acerbi
Prize in Italy.

„Frumoasele straine“ (The Beautiful Foreign Women) consists of stories Cartarescu wrote for the maga-
zine Seven Nights. The collection wager on humor and a highly personal kind of satire that is pushed to
the limits of the grotesque. In this triptych, Mircea Cãrtãrescu paints deliriously absurd vignettes from
literary life (of both the native Romanian and the cosmopolitan European variety). He dissects the literary
world with the instruments of a writer-moralist who neither forgets nor forgives, least of all when it comes
to his own mistakes. The stories (“Anthrax”, “The Beautiful Foreign Women, or, How I was a Third-rate
Author”, and “Bacovian”) are not just road movies narrated with sincerity and simplicity, but sequences
from a human comedy.
Collection received Premio Euskadi de Plata to the Best Book of 2014. in Spain.
Translator
Ileana Ursu Nenadić (Zrenjanin, Serbia,1954), poet and translator graduated at University of Novi Sad.
She has published ten books of poetry (in Romanian and Serbian language). She was awarded with nu-
merous literary translation prizes: Pečat varoši sremskokarlovačke, Stražilovo Award for the best book of
poems, Lumine Award, Award of the Writers' Union of Romania for the best translation of the year 2000,
the International Prize for Valahia contribution to literature and literary translation, Order of Mihai
Eminescu in Romania for contribution to culture, as well as Golden OCA badge of the Republic of Serbia.
She is a member of the editorial board of multilingual collections Bridge Cultural Institute of Vojvodina.
She has been already part of EACEA project for Literary Translation in 2016 also with translation of
Mircea Cartarescu book “Nostalgia". Her translation, the "Anthology of Romanian contemporary poetry",
was published in Athens as part of a major European project of presenting literature. She was one of the
editors of the "Tribuna tineretului" youth magazine in Romanian. She has translated books of Romanian
contemporary authors: Ana Blandijana, Mircea Dinescu, Ileana Malačoju, Karolina iLike, Liliana Ursu,
Mihai Eminescu, and compiled a bilingual "Anthology of contemporary Romanian poetry that is created
in Vojvodina" (ARKA Smederevo), "Anthology of legends and fairy tales Romanians in Vojvodina", as well
as proceedings of "Writers at the border". She has moderated bilingual publication of literature and cul-
ture "Oglina" - "Mirror".
Glavni i odgovorni urednik
Nina Gugleta
ninagugleta@arete.rs
ninagugleta@gmail.com

Urednik
Ana Marija Grbić
anamarija@arete.rs

Redakcija
redakcija@arete.rs

Klub čitalaca
klub@arete.rs

Bulevar Zorana Đinđića 111/1

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+ 381 64 16 53 831

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