Marinko Koščec

His novel "Netko drugi" (Someone Else) was awarded with «Meša Selimović» prize 2002 (the best novel published in 2001 in Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro). The novel "Wonderland" was awarded with the prize «VBZ» for the best novel manuscript in 2003. English translation of the novel "To malo pijeska na dlanu" (A Handful of Sand, 2005) is to be published by “Istros books”, London, in Spring 2013.

Marinko Koščec primarily focuses on the phenomena relalated to transition (implying a psychological and philosophical rather than economical concept). Dedicated to stylistic excellence, he combines sharp criticism and ironic mockery with narrative playfulness.

Curriculum vitae

- born in 1967, in Zagreb

- 1992: B.A. of English and French language and literature at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Zagreb

- 1995: M. A. in literature at the University of Paris VII, France (le Diplôme des Etudes Approfondies) ; a study on "Figuration du non-dit dans le roman contemporain"

- 2005: Ph.D. in literature with the thesis on the French writer Michel Houellebecq at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Zagreb

- from 2008: part-time editor in the publishing house SysPrint, Zagreb (so far edited about 30 novels and collections of short stories)

- from 2008: part-time teaches novel writing in the Creative Writing Centre (CeKaPe), Zagreb

Bibliography

Novels:

- Otok pod morem, (An Island under the Sea), Feral tribune, Split, 1999
- Netko drugi, (Someone Else), Konzor, Zagreb, 2001; awarded with «Meša Selimović» prize 2002 (the best novel published in 2001 in Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro) ; electronic edition 2007
- Wonderland, VBZ, Zagreb, 2003; awarded with the prize «VBZ» for the best novel manuscript in 2003

- To malo pijeska na dlanu (A Handful of Sand), Profil, 2005 (English translation to be published by “Istros books”, London, in Spring 2013)
- Centimetar od sreće (A Centimetre from Happiness), Profil, Zagreb 2008

- Četvrti čovjek (The Forth Man), Algoritam, Zagreb, 2011

 Other books : 

- Skice za portret suvremene francuske proze, (Sketches for a portrait of contemporary French prose), essays and translations, Konzor, Zagreb, 2003.
- Mrmor u mraku (Murmur in the Dark), anthology of contemporary French short story, Profil, Zagreb, 2007
- Michel H. - mirakul, mučenik, manipulator?, (Michel H. - miracle, martyr, manipulator?) study of Michel Houlebecq, HDP and Antibarbarus, Zagreb, 2007

Literary agency:

Literaturagentur Dagmar Schruf
litag@schruf.de

Marinko Koščec: Excerpt from Searching for the Beginning of a Circle

Marinko Koščec holds a PhD in Literature from the University of Zagreb. He's written seven novels, several of which have won prestigious regional awards. He is a professor of French Literature at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zagreb. He worked for several years as an editor for the Zagreb publishing house, SySprint. He has translated several French novels, taught workshops on translating and currently teaches novel writing at CeKaPe (the Center for Creative Writing).

The passage below from Koščec’s book, Searching for the Beginning of a Circle, is a domestic scene, an intimate contemplation on the modern way of life that will make you reexamine your relationship with health food and will probably make you laugh as well. In a more serious vein, it may just make you peer beneath the veneer of modern day trends and obsessions to see what lies beneath. As Koščec put it in an interview, explaining the title of his book: “We began from nothing and we’ll become nothing; life journeys are by necessity circular.” (Koščec, Marinko. Interviewed by Ivana Čulić, tportal.hr, 19.1.2017).

Read an excerpt from Koščec’s novel, Searching for the Beginning of a Circle below.
Translation by Vesna Maric

Marinko Koscec: A Handful of Sand

Koščec's novel A Handful of Sand (To malo pijeska na dlanu, 2005), translated by Will Firth, is published by "Istros Books", London, in January 2013.
A Handful of Sand is a love story and an ode to lost opportunity.

A Handful of Sand, by Marinko Koscec, translated by Will Firth

ANZ LitLovers LitBlog, Lisa Hill, April 20, 2013

A Handful of Sand by Marinko Koščec and translated from the Croatian by Will Firth, is billed on its blurb as an ‘ode to lost opportunity’ but I think it’s more than that. I think it asks, is it ever possible for psychologically damaged people to love? Or is it that they can only ‘sample’ what others have, only to lose it like sand slipping through their fingers?

Wonderland

Sample translation from "Wonderland", a novel by Marinko Koščec, translated by Tomislav Kuzmanović.
Wonderland is an ironic portrait of Croatian academic community, epitomized by a 40-year-old professor of literature. His professional and family-life traumas, midlife crisis and fantasies of escape from the prison of his individual existence, intertwine with the context of syndromes related to societies in transition.
Wonderland was awarded with the prize «VBZ» for the best novel manuscript in 2003.