poetry

Poetry from Ana Brnardić: The Other Sister

Ana Brnardić was born in 1980 in Zagreb. She holds a Master’s degree in the Croatian Language and Literature and Comparative Literature from the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zagreb. She also earned a Master’s degree in Music, specifically for the violin, from the Music Academy in Zagreb. She has published five collections of poetry: Pisaljka nekog mudraca (1998) (Some Sage’s Pen), Valcer zmija (2005) (Waltzing Snakes), Postanak ptica (2009) (Genesis of Birds), Uzbrdo (2015) (Uphill) and Vuk i Breza (2019) (A Wolf and a Birch). Her poetry has been translated into fifteen languages and included in various anthologies, literary magazines and web portals. Brnardić has won several prestigious regional poetry awards for her work including the Goran’s Spring Award and the Slavić and Kvirin Award for Young Poets. She participates in various poetry festivals and online poetry platforms such as Versopolis, writes book reviews and also translates Romanian literature into Croatian. Brnardić lives and works in Zagreb.

Read Brnardić’s poem The Other Sister in the link below.
Translation by Chelsea Sanders.

poetry

Marijo Glavaš: Jellyfish

Mario Glavaš was born in Split in 1986. He has published one novel, Libreto za mrtve kitove (2009)(A Libretto for Dead Whales) and three collections of poetry, GrAD (2012) (C/Shi/Ty), Ciklona (2012) (Cyclone) and Permutacije (2017) (Permutations). His work has received several regional awards, particularly for young poets. Glavaš has hosted and edited several TV and radio programs dedicated to literature. Besides poetry, he also writes short stories, literary criticism and essays and has been published in various reginal literary magazines and web portals.

Read Glavaš’s poem, Jellyfish, below.
Translation by Irina Škarica.

poetry

Ernesto Estrella: A Selection of Poems from his Forthcoming Collection The American Heart

Ernesto Estrella is a New York-based poet and educator. He is the author of Boca de Prosas and Achronos, and is currently finishing his first poetry collection in English, The American Heart. Ernesto has translated the works of Henry David Thoreau and John Muir into Spanish and has written a number of books and articles on Poetic Theory and Performance Studies. He is a former Yale University professor of Contemporary Poetry and has been showcased in seminars at leading institutions such as the Great Books Foundation, New York Historical Society, Bowery Poetry Club, Walden Woods Project, and the Thoreau Society. In 2021, he launched The Voice of Recovery podcast which uses poetry and storytelling as tools for wellness and mental health. https://www.themapofyourtraps.com/podcast

The selected poems below are from Estrella's forthcoming poetry collection, The American Heart.

poetry

Damir Šodan: ten poems

Damir Šodan was born in 1964 in Split. He earned his degree in English Language and History From the University of Zagreb. Šodan is a poet, a translator and a playwright. He’s written four collections of poetry: Glasovne promjene (1996) (Sound Changes), Srednji svijet (2001) (Middle World), Pisma divljem Skitu (2009) (Letters to a Wild Scythian) and Café Apollinaire (2013). Šodan has also authored several books of plays and many individual plays. He’s translated many notable American authors and poets into Croatian including Charles Bukowski and Raymond Carver. He works as a translator for the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in the Hauge, the Netherlands where he lives.

Read ten poems from Damir Šodan in the link below.
Translation by the author.

poetry

Branko Čegec: 20th Century Fox

Branko Čegec, born in Kraljev vrh in 1957, is a leading figure in the Croatian poetry and literary scenes. Čegec holds a degree in South Slavic Studies and Comparative Literature from the University of Zagreb. He has published numerous volumes of poetry, including several award winning ones, as well as collections of essays and fiction. His poetry has been included in many Croatian as well as international anthologies and has also been translated into multiple languages. He served as the chairman for Croatia’s esteemed poetry festival, Goranovo proljeće (Goran’s Spring), from 1999 to 2007. He was a highly respected editor of the renowned literary magazine Quorum for years and is the founder and current editor-in-chief at the publishing house, Meandar.

Čegec’s vivid imagery and playful style thrust the reader into his unique and complex world. Read his poetry in the link below.
Translation by Stipe Grgas.

poetry

Ivica Prtenjača: Selected Poems

Ivica Prtenjača (b. 1969) was born and raised in the coastal city of Rijeka. He holds a degree in Croatian Language and Literature from the University of Rijeka. Prtenjača has published three novels: Tiho rušenje (2017) (Quiet Collapse), Brdo (2014) (The Hill), and Dobro je, lijepo je (2006) (It’s Good, It’s Nice). He has also written several collections of short stories, a play and numerous volumes of poetry. Prtenjača's work has received various awards and his prose and poetry have been translated into into twenty different languages.

In a recent interview, Prtenjača described how his journey as a writer began with the feverish consumption of all the volumes of poetry he could get his hands on as a young student in Rijeka. His first, equally passionate attempts at poetry were all discarded, but he says that the early passion and energy he had for writing and reading can still be found in his work today. Prtenjača further says, “My goal is to write, grow and seek what I’m not sure yet exists. And find it in the end.” (Prtenjača, Ivica. Interviewed by Siniša Pavić, novilist.hr, 9.7.2017).

Read a selection of his poems below.
Translation by Stipe Grgas.

poetry

Olja Savičević Ivančević: Two Poems

Olja Savičević Ivančević is a prolific author whose work has garnered her much critical praise as well as awards. Read two of her poems below, which explore the depth and complexities of motherhood from the vantage point of both the child and the mother.

Translation by Andrea Jurčević

poetry

Evelina Rudan: blue vitriol

Evelina Rudan, born in 1971, was raised on the Adriatic coast, in the city of Pula. She earned her degree in Croatian Studies and Southern Slavic Philology from the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Zagreb. Rudan also holds a PhD in oral languages from her alma mater and now teaches there, in the Croatian Studies Department. She was the 2007 recipient of the Drago Gervais prize, awarded for her manuscript collection of poems: Breki and Ćuki. She has published many collections of poetry, including: Breki i Ćuki (2008) (Dogs and Owls), Pristojne ptice (2008) (Decent Birds), Uvjerljiv vrt (2003) (A Convincing Garden), Posljednja topla noć (2002, along with coauthors Slađan Lipovec and Denis Peričić) (The Last Warm Night) and Sve ča mi rabi ovega prolića (2000) (All I Need This Spring). All of her poetry collections are written in both standard Croatian and in the Chakavian dialect. Most recently she has published a monography, Vile s Učke. Žanr, kontekst, izvedba i nadnaravna bića predaja (2016) (Fairies from Učka. Genre, context, performance and supernatural Beings of Legends). She also wrote the picturebook, Little Prince’s Dream (2010), which was illustrated by Sven Nemet. Her poems have been translated into various Slavic and European languages.

Read her picturesque poem about wine country below.
Translation by Hana Dada Banak.

poetry

Simo Mraović: Selected Poems

In Natalija Grgorinić and Ognjen Rađen’s touching tribute to Simo Mraović, the good-natured, ‘good spirit of Croatian literature’ as the writer, Edo Popovic’ described him, they recount their friendship with him and present a selection of his abundant poems which they translated into English on their website, zvonainari.hr. Mraović (b. 1966, Kutina) published six volumes of poetry, a novel, Konstantin Bogobojazni (2002), a collection of essays, Varaj me nježno (2006) (Deceive Me Gently) and a collection of short stories, Bajke za plaže (2007) (Fairytales for the Beach), before his early death from cancer in 2008.

Mraović remarked in one interview: “Good poets, and even bad ones are simply the guardians and the engines of language. Language doesn’t develop through prose. One day the whole world will be explained through poetry and mathematics.” (Mraović, Simo. Interviewed by Edo Popović, moderna vremena, 3.6.2002).

Read a selection of Mraovic’s poems. Translations by Natalija Grgorinić and Ognjen Rađen.

poetry

Alen Brlek: Blue

Alen Brlek was born in Zagreb in 1988, but grew up in the coastal towns of Rovinj and Pula. His first volume of poetry, Metakmorfoze (2014,) won the Na vrh jezika award for the best poetry by an author younger than 35. He recently published another collection of poems Pratišina (2017). You can hear him reciting his poetry as part of a performance art project called Zaron that he collaborates on with Darko Šeparović, a poet, and Emil Andreis, a musician.

Brlek has described his approach to poetry as not an escape from reality but a confrontation with it. “Through poetry I’ve reached some depths which are innate to us, but we avoid them because of fear, shame or some such thing because the world is defined that way.” (Brlek, Alen. Interviewed by Tijana Živko, ziher.hr, 14.2.2015).

Read Brlek’s poem, Blue, below. Translation by Mirza Puric.

poetry

Anita Pajević: Four Poems

Anita Pajević (b. 1989) is from Mostar. She holds a bachelor's degree in Croatian Language and Literature from the University of Mostar. She earned the first place Mak Dizdar award for the best unpublished poetry manuscript in 2015. Her collection of poems, Perlinov šum (2016) (Perlin’s Noise), won the second place award from the Foundation of Nijaz Slipičević.

poetry

Ana Brnardić: Various poems

Ana Brnardić (1980) is a Zagreb native. She holds a Master’s degree in Comparative Literature and the Croatian Language and Literature from the University of Zagreb, as well as a Master’s degree in Music (violin) from the Music Academy in Zagreb. She has published four collections of poems. Her debut collection of poems, Some Sage’s Pen (1998), garnered her critical acclaim and two prestigious awards: the Goran Award for Young Poets and the Slavic Award from the Croatian Writer’s Association for the best debut poetry collection. Her collection of poems, Waltzing Snakes (2005), received the Kvirin Award for Young Poets. Her other poetry collections are Genesis of Birds (2009) and Uphill (2015). Selected poems from Brnardić were translated into Romanian in the book Hotel cu muzenici in 2009. And Genesis of Birds was translated into Swedish in 2016. Aside from writing poetry and prose, Brnardić also works with with Adrian Oproiu to translate contemporary Romanian literature into Croatian. She also serves as the General Secretary for the Croatian Writers’ Society (h,d,p,).

poetry

Vesna Parun: You Whose Hands Are More Innocent Than Mine

Read a poem from one of Croatia's literary giants of the 20th century, the lauded poet, Vesna Parun (1922-2010).

poetry

Gordana Benić: Four poems

Poet, journalist and a winner of the most prestigious poetry award 'Goranov vijenac', Gordana Benić was born in Split in 1950. She studied Croatian literature and philosophy in Zadar, completing her postgraduate studies in literature in Zagreb. For years she worked in Slobodna Dalmacija, the local paper, concentrating on historical monuments. In 2000 she received the Vicko Andrić conservation award for her articles on national historical monuments. Her poetry can be regarded as part of a significant movement in Croatian literature, that of the prose poem, which continues to resist fashionable trends and the commercial demands of a national literary marketplace made up as it goes along. Benić is indisputably one of the most important figures in that movement.

poetry

Ivana Bodrožić: Selected poems

Selected poems from "First Step into Darkness" and "Wild Animals Crossing"
Translated from Croatian by Majda and Damir Šodan

Ivana Bodrožić was born in Vukovar in 1982. In 2005, she published her first poetry collection entitled Prvi korak u tamu (The First Step into Darkness) as part of the Goran Award for young poets.
Her first novel Hotel Zagorje (Hotel Tito) was published in 2010. The novel has been published at numerous respectful publishing houses and received a prestigious Prix Ulysee for the best debut novel in France, as well as numerous important awards in Croatia and the Balkan area such as the Kočićevo Pero Award, Josip and Ivan Kozarac Award, and Kiklop Award for the best work of fiction in 2010.
She has since published her second poetry collection Prijelaz za divlje životinje (A Road for Wild Animals) and a short story collection 100% pamuk (100% Cotton), which has also received a regional award.
Her works have been translated to German, French, Czech, Danish, Slovenian, Spanish, Macedonian.

poetry

Drago Glamuzina: Butchers

“Butchers” (Mesari), a collection of poems by Drago Glamuzina, won the Vladimir Nazor Book of the Year Award and the Kvirin Prize for the Best Book of Poetry in Croatia, and was translated into German, Macedonian and Slovene.
Glamuzina was born in Vrgorac in 1967. His publications include Mesari (Butchers, poetry, 2001), Tri (Three, a novel, 2008), Je li to sve (Is That All, poetry, 2009), Everest (poetry, 2016)...
“Love and jealousy through a clash of one body against another become the origins of speaking about life and the world in general. Glamuzina’s act of switching the idyllic love couple with a dramatic love triangle ignites the lyrical narration that spreads in different directions. (…) His “butchers” often cut at the most sensitive spots.” (K. Bagić)

poetry

Samuel (Srdjan) Sacher: Poems

Samuel (formerly known as Srdjan) Sacher is a composer, songwriter and poet. He was born 1955 in Zagreb, Croatia. Samuel studied archeology and ethnology at the University of Zagreb, but dropped out before graduation to pursue a professional music career. From 1980, he has been an active songwriter, singer and bass player in four Croatian bands - Haustor, Dee Dee Mellow, Brojani, and Vjestice. From the begining of his career, Samuel Sacher has been involved in TV and theatre production as a composer, songwriter or performer.

poetry

Tin Ujević: Nocturne (six poems)

One of the great Croatian lyric poets in the 20th century, Tin Ujević (1891 – 1955) has hardly been translated at all into English. His Collected Works number 16 volumes, and he is greatly loved as a lyric poet in Croatia as well as all the other countries of former Yugoslavia. Tin is a writer of voluminous intellect, whose use of language, gentle musicality, purity of literary form and mournful, melancholic sensibility are reminiscent in many ways of Verlaine. He lived simply, and was a frequenter of bars and cafés.
Ujević was born in Vrgorac (Dalmatia). He lived at various times in Zagreb, Belgrade, Sarajevo, Split and Paris.

poetry

Darija Žilić: The Slow Soul

Darija Žilić is a poet, literary critic, translator, moderator, and one of the editors of literary journal Tema, born in Zagreb in 1972. She graduated in comparative literature and history from the University of Zagreb. Her published works includes Breasts and Strawberries (poetry, 2005), To Write in Milk (Essays on Contemporary Poetry, 2008), Muse outside Ghetto: Essays on Contemporary Literature (Julije Benešić award for the best book by critics in Croatia in 2012), Nomads and hybrids: Essays on Contemporary Literature and Film (2010), Parallel Gardens: Interviews with Theorists, Writers and Activists (2010), Tropics: Critics about Contemporary Poetry (2011), Dance, Modesty, Dance (Kiklop award for the best poetry book in 2010 in Croatia), Omara (prose, 2012) and Tropics 2: critics about poetry, prose and society (2014.)

poetry

Irena Matijašević: No one's around

Irena Matijašević, born in Zagreb in 1965, graduated with a degree in English and comparative literature from Zagreb's Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. She served as a member of Croatian Semiotic Society’s board of directors and currently she works as an editor at Croatian Radio where she edits programs on poetry and literature, as well as on human sciences. Her work as a translator is marked by translations of theory, anthropological (Clifford Geertz, Interpretative Anthropology, 2010) and psychoanalytic (Anthony Elliott, Psychoanalytic Theory, 2012). Her publications include essays, published in literary magazines and newspapers, as well as three books of poetry: Naizgled (Seemingly, AGM, 2007), Južne životinje (Southern Animals, AGM, 2010) and Danska H20 (Dennmark H20, AGM, 2012). Her poems were translated into German, English, Slovakian, Swedish and Polish. In 2015 she published the novel Black Letter (Algoritam, Zagreb) and presently she is writing a novel Diary of the sea to be published by Hena.com in 2017.

poetry

Sonja Manojlović: I Remember Everything

Sonja Manojlović was born on March 15, 1948 in Zagreb. She graduated in philosophy and comparative literature from the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zagreb. Her poems have been included in anthologies and translated into more than fifteen languages.

poetry

Branko Čegec: Advertisement For Death

Branko Čegec was born in Kraljev vrh in 1957. He is a poet, a critic, an essayist and a fiction writer who graduated from the Zagreb Faculty of Philosophy in Croatian Studies and Comparative Literature. He has been editor-in-chief of many newspapers and cultural magazines. His poetry has been included in various reviews and anthologies in Croatia and abroad and translated into English, German, French, Italian, Slovenian, Ukranian, Macedonian, Polish, Ruthenian, Hungarian and Lithuanian. His books include: Eros-Europe-Arafat (1980), West-East Sex (1983), The Makeover of the Avantgarde (1983), A Melancholy Chronicle (1988), The Screens of Emptiness (1992 and 2001), The Freedom Phantom (1994).

poetry

Petra Rosandić: I can move south anytime

Petra Rosandić (Split, 1985, poet/editor) graduated with a Master's degree in Croatian and English language and literature from The faculty of humanities and social sciences at University of Split, Croatia. Her works are published in all relevant Croatian, Bosnian and Serbian literary magazines/collections. Book of poetry, 'Ako dugo držiš usta otvorena' was published in Serbia in 2014, while her manuscript in English, 'Why I died' was selected as one of 25 semi-finalists for the international award Tomaž Šalamun 2015 by the American magazine Verse. Several of her poems have been translated to Italian and Albanian. She is currently based in Dublin, Ireland, studying interior design.

poetry

Ivan Goran Kovačić: The pit

Illustration: Pablo Picasso, La Fosse Commune (The pit), Etching, 1947. From Ivan Goran Kovatchitch Book.

Ivan Goran Kovačić (1913 –1943) was a prominent Croatian poet and writer of the 20th century. Death is a central theme in much of Kovačić’s poetry, however this is not a reflection on his life outlook. His melancholy subjects came from outside events—such as his own and his brother’s affliction with tuberculosis—rather than from an internal disposition toward the morose. Jure Kaštelan, one of Kovačić's contemporaries, expressed that Kovačić was inclined both toward romanticism and realism in his poetry, and that Kovačić had an intense perception of life. His best known work is "Jama" (The Pit). His work is an example of anti-war poetry with messages against torture, mass murders and war crimes.

poetry

Ivan Herceg: Poems

Ivan Herceg (1970, Krapina) is a Croatian poet, prose writer and editor, majored in Croatian language and literature studies and South-Slavic philology at Zagreb Faculty of Philosophy. He is the executive editor of the Zagreb-based journal Poezija, devoted exclusively to poetry, the assistant editor of Poezija’s book publishing section, and the co-organiser, along with Poezija’s editor-in-chief Ervin Jahić, of the SUR (Stih u regiji /Poetry in the Region/) Poetry Festival. He received several awards for his poetic work, and his poetry has been widely anthologised and translated into a dozen languages. Published works: Naša druga imena (poetry, 1994), Noć na asfaltu (poetry, 1996), Snimke zemaljskih uzdaha (poetry, 1997), Anđeli u koroti (poetry, Zagreb, 2004.), Nepravilnosti (poetry, 2007), Koliko naju bo ostalo (selected poems in Slovenian, 2009), Snimke zemaljskih uzdaha (poetry, 2010), Anđeli u koroti (poetry, 2011), Goli (short stories, 2011), Naša druga imena (selected poems in Polish, 2014), Nepravilnosti (poetry in Bulgarian, 2014).

poetry

Damir Šodan: The Afternoon of a Clown

Damir Šodan (1964, Split) is a poet, playwright, editor and translator who graduated from Zagreb University with a BA in English Literature and History. He has published four volumes of poetry: Sound Changes (1996), The Middle World (2001), Letters to a Wild Scythian, (2009) and Café Apollinaire (2013), two collections of plays: Safe Area (2002), The Night of the Long Beams (2009) and an anthology of contemporary Croatian "neorealist" poetry: Walk on the Other Side (2010). He was awarded the Držić prize for the burlesque Chick Lit (2012) and the 1st prize at the playwriting competition for ex-Yugoslav writers in Vienna (2000) for the dark comedy Safe Area. Internationally, his work has been among other featured in The American Poetry Review (2007), New European Poets, (Graywolf Press, USA, 2008), Les Poètes de la Méditerranée (Gallimard, 2010), The World Record and A Hundred Years' War (Bloodaxe, 2012 and 2014). He translated Raymond Carver, Leonard Cohen, Charles Bukowski, Charles Simic, Richard Brautigan and Frank O'Hara into Croatian. He is an associate editor of Poezija and Quorum magazines in Zagreb.

poetry

Milko Valent: Poems

Milko Valent, a highly prolific author born in 1948 in Zagreb, graduated from the University of Zagreb with a degree in philosophy and comparative literature. He has been a professional writer since the autumn of 1976, publishing poetry, short stories, novels, essays on philosophy and literature, polemics, theater criticism, and plays for radio and stage.

poetry

Mehmed Begić: Close your eyes so no to see flags

Mehmed Begić (1977) was born in Capljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He studied South Slavic languages and literature at Pedagogical Institute of Mostar, as well as comparative literature at the Faculty of Philosophy in Sarajevo. He has completed none of the above. Begić was one of the editors of magazine Kolaps.
He likes to believe that Kolaps is an ongoing dream, currently in hibernation. So far Begić published: L’Amore Al Primo Binocolo (1999) with Nedim Ćisić, Marko Tomaš and Veselin Gatalo, Tri puta trideset i tri jednako (2000) with Ćisić and Tomaš, Film (2001), with Lukasz Szopa, Čekajući Mesara (2002), Pjesme iz sobe (2006), Savršen metak u stomak (2010), Знам дека знаеш / Znam da znaš / I Know You Know (2012), Ponoćni razgovori (2013) with Marko Tomaš, Sitni sati u Managvi (2015).

poetry

Irena Delonga Nešić: A note to yourself

Irena Delonga Nešić (Sinj, 1984) is a Croatian poet and former editor of the The Split Mind magazine. In 2010 she published a poetry volume ''Riječi kupuju zločine koje ćeš počiniti" and was awarded Goran prize for young poets. She lives in Split, where she hosts literary events.

poetry

Marko Tomaš: Poems

Marko Tomaš (Ljubljana, 1978) was one of the founders and editors of the Kolaps literary magazine in Sarajevo. He has worked as a journalist and radio speaker and has published extensively all across the region. He is a poet of a rare sensuality and emotional refinement with a rarefied bohemian touch reminiscent somewhat of young Leonard Cohen. Publications: Hands Under Head (2002), Mama I'm Successful (2004), Life is a Joke (2005), Marko Tomaš and Other Poems (2007), Goodbye Fascists (2009), Midnight Conversations (with Mehmed Begić) (2012), Boulevard of the People's Revolution (2013), The Black Prayer Book (2015).

poetry

Nikola Šop: Poems

Mathematical concepts and geometric bodies, from being external become inner poetic symbols, and cannot from now on be subjected to the logos of the poetry, yet – from a completely principled point of view – the latter is not essentially opposed to mathematics.

Višnja Machiedo, The vivacious geometry of Nikola Šop

poetry

Arian Leka: Poems

Arian Leka (1966) belongs to the group of authors, which have come to the forefront after the opening of the Albanian borders and are considered to be avant-garde. By origin from the port city of Durres, this author, except modernity, weaves a whole mythology around his homeland, making the principle maritime symbols regards in his work as a poet, short story writer, novelist and essayist too, and transforms also them in a new living aesthetic and urban language, signing the multicultural life of this city. He studied music at the Jan Kukuzeli’s Music Academy. He is the author of 15 books.
For his creativity work Arian Leka received numerous literary awards for his poetry in his country and abroad.

poetry

Marko Pogačar: Poems

Marko Pogačar was born in 1984. in Split. He is an editor of Quorum a literary magazine, and Zarez, a bi-weekly for cultural and social issues. His publications include four poetry collections, three books of essays and a short story collection. He was awarded for poetry, prose, and essays, his texts appeared in about thirly languages.

poetry

Željka Horvat Čeč: Poems

Born in Čakovec, in the year of Chernobyl and Maradona (1986). Published a book of poems The stars also laugh at frailty (2005) and was one of the authors in the poetry collection There are better things than dry clothes (2007). She was awarded at a competition for the short story "Zlatko Tomičić’ and published a short story collection The cowboy in the red Golf (2010). Published in literary magazines and attended various festivals. She won the first prize for poetry at the Ulaznica 2013 literary competition. In her poems and stories she speaks openly and without compromise. She organizes literary evenings and discussions. She lives in Rijeka, likes sarcasm, football and making a mess.

poetry

Branko Maleš: Poems

Branko Maleš is one of the leading post-war Croatian poets. He is an important innovator in contemporary Croatian poetry, and among other things he coined the term “semantic concretes” and introduced it into literary criticism.

poetry

Arsen Dedić: Poetry

Arsen Dedić was born in Šibenik in 1938. In his hometown he graduated from gymnasium and music school. For a while he studied at the Faculty of Law, but his love of music was stronger so he dropped law studies and turned to the Zagreb Music Academy, graduating from it in February of 1964. As a flautist he played in various ensembles and orchestras and founded the Flute Quartet. He was a member of several music groups such as Zagrebački vokalni kvartet, Prima, Melos et al. His primary orientation has always been toward music, but by uniting musical and poetic inclinations he naturally achieved a distinctive singer-songwriter expression, his most remarkable characteristic. His verses have been published in Polet, Prisutnosti, Književne novine, Književnik, and his first award was from the Split magazine Vidik. His first book – Brod u boci – was published in 1971 and sold in more than 60,000 copies. Zabranjena knjiga is his seventeenth book of poetry.

poetry

Dražen Katunarić: Poems

Dražen Katunarić studied Philosophy at Strasbourg University. He composed prose, poetry, and essays. His works have been translated into English, French, German, Spanish, Slovenian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Corsican, and Italian. He has received several awards, including the literary award "Naji Naaman" (Lebanon 2004) and the literary award of Steiermärkische Sparkasse (2009). He was named a Knight of Literature (Chevalier de la littérature et de l'art) by the French Ministry of Culture.

poetry

Sibila Petlevski: Poems

These recent poems from the forthcoming collection Passwords of Oblivion exemplify the interplay in Sibila Petlevski’s work between the outer and inner worlds.

poetry

Anka Žagar: Poems

Anka Žagar was born in 1954 in Zamost, in the Gorski Kotar region of Croatia. She attended elementary school in Plesac, and high school in Cabar. Žagar graduated in Croatian and comparative literature at the Arts Faculty in Zagreb, and currently works as a librarian. One of the most acclaimed Croatian poets, she has published six books of poetry and a number of collector’s editions, illustrated with original etchings by famous Croatian graphic artists.

poetry

Dorta Jagić: Some Selected Poems

Dorta Jagić writes poetry, short prose pieces, drama and theatre reviews, and translates from English and German into Croatian. Since 1999, she has been involved with various amateur theatre groups as a director and educator.
Her work has been widely translated.
Her poetry has been awarded both in Croatia and abroad.

poetry

Ivan Slamnig: Poetry - a brief selection

Ivan Slamnig (24 June 1930 - 3 July 2001), a Croatian poet and novelist, is considered one of the most important Croatian poets of the 20th century. His laconic, humor-infused modernist poetry is difficult to categorize, and proved popular with the critics and the public alike.

poetry

Dinko Telećan: Poems

Poet and prose writer Dinko Telećan won this year's European Prize for Poetry at the Festival of Poetry in Curtea de Argeş.

poetry

Olja Savičević Ivančević: Postcards from Istanbul (a selection)

Maybe it's time for a bit of poetic reflections from Istanbul.

poetry

The Market-place in Dubrava

Five poems by Krešimir Bagić
THE RISE - METAL'S PERFIDIOUS SONG - THE MARKET-PLACE IN DUBRAVA - BLAŽ BLAŽ BLAŽ - GASTON D.

poetry

100 PIECES by Vlado Bulić

In his Artist Statement Vlado Bulić asserts that for him literature should be a product of the author’s need to cope with the things around him which most often present themselves as problems causing frustration and frustration only. Bulić's book of poetry 100 Pieces (100 komada; published 2003) comes from this frustration.
The poems in this volume can be read as true anecdotes about the daily existence of individuals who do not have any perspective or objective in their lives.

poetry

LIGHT, SOMETHING FORTHCOMING

Marko Pogačar, poems, short selection

panorama

Rebecca Duran's Take on Modern Day Life in Pazin (Istria)

Croatia is a small, charming country known today as a prime European tourist destination. However, it has a complicated often turbulent history and is seemingly always destined to be at the crossroads of empires, religions and worldviews, with its current identity and culture incorporating elements from its former Communist, Slavic, Austrian-Hungarian, Catholic, Mediterranean, and European traditions.

review

Review of Dubravka Ugrešić's Age of Skin

Dubravka Ugrešić is one of the most internationally recognizable writers from Croatia, but she has a contentious relationship with her home country, having gone into self-exile in the early 90s. Her recently translated collection of essays, The Age of Skin, touches on topics of of exile and displacement, among others. Read a review of Ugrešić’s latest work of non-fiction, expertly translated by Ellen Elias-Bursac, in the link below .

review

Review of Neva Lukić's Endless Endings

Read a review of Neva Lukić's collection of short stories, Endless Endings, recently translated into English, in World Literature Today.

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A Guide to Zagreb's Street Art

Zagreb has its fair share of graffiti, often startling passersby when it pops up on say a crumbling fortress wall in the historical center of the city. Along with some well-known street murals are the legendary street artists themselves. Check out the article below for a definitive guide to Zagreb's best street art.

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Beloved Croatian Children's Show Professor Balthazar Now Available in English on YouTube

The colorful, eclectic and much beloved Croatian children's cartoon Professor Balthazar was created by Zlatko Grgić and produced from the late 1960s through the 1970s. Now newer generations will be able to enjoy the Professor's magic, whether they speak Croatian or English.

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An English Book on Croatian Football Legend Robert Prosinečki

Robert Prosinečki's long and fabled football career includes winning third place in the 1998 World Cup as part of the Croatian national team, stints in Real Madrid and FC Barcelona as well as managerial roles for the Croatian national team, Red Star Belgrade, the Azerbaijani national team and the Bosnian Hercegovinian national team.

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Jonathan Bousfield on the Seedy Side of the Seaside

From strange tales of mysterious murders to suspected criminals hiding out to scams, duels and gambling, Opatija, a favourite seaside escape for Central Europeans at the turn of the last century, routinely filled Austrian headlines and the public's imagination in the early 20th century.

review

Review of new English translation of Grigor Vitez's AntonTon

Hailed as the father of 20th century Croatian children's literature, Grigor Vitez (1911-1966) is well known and loved in his homeland. With a new English translation of one of his classic tales AntonTon (AntunTun in Croatian), children around the world can now experience the author's delightful depiction of the strong-minded and silly AntonTon. The Grigor Vitez Award is an annual prize given to the best Croatian children's book of the year.

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The Best of New Eastern European Literature

Have an overabundance of free time, thanks to the pandemic and lockdowns? Yearning to travel but unable to do so safely? Discover the rhythm of life and thought in multiple Eastern European countries through exciting new literature translated into English. From war-torn Ukraine to tales from Gulag inmates to the search for identity by Eastern Europeans driven away from their home countries because of the economic or political situations but still drawn back to their cultural hearths, this list offers many new worlds to explore.

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More Zagreb Street Art

Explore TimeOut's gallery of fascinating and at times thought-provoking art in the great open air gallery of the streets of Zagreb.

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Welcome to Zagreb's Hangover Museum

Partied too hard last night? Drop by Zagreb's Hangover Museum to feel more normal. People share their craziest hangover stories and visitors can even try on beer goggles to experience how the world looks like through drunken eyes.

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Jonathan Bousfield on the Future as Imagined in 1960s Socialist Yugoslavia

How will the futuristic world of 2060 look? How far will technology have advanced, and how will those advancements affect how we live our everyday lives? These are the questions the Zagreb-based magazine Globus asked in a series of articles in 1960, when conceptualizing what advancements society would make 40 years in the future, the then far-off year of 2000. The articles used fantastical predictions about the future to highlight the technological advancements already made by the then socialist Yugoslavia. Take a trip with guide, Jonathan Bousfield, back to the future as envisioned by journalists in 1960s Yugoslavia.

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Untranslatable Croatian Phrases

What’s the best way for an open-minded foreigner to get straight to the heart of another culture and get a feel for what makes people tick? Don’t just sample the local food and drink and see the major sights, perk up your ears and listen. There’s nothing that gives away the local flavor of a culture more than the common phrases people use, especially ones that have no direct translation.

Check out a quirky list of untranslatable Croatian phrases from Croatian cultural guide extraordinaire, Andrea Pisac, in the link below:

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Jonathon Bousfield on the Museum of Broken Relationships

Just got out of a serious relationship and don't know what to do with all those keepsakes and mementos of your former loved one? The very popular and probably most unique museum in Zagreb, the Museum of Broken Relationships, dedicated to preserving keepsakes alongside the diverse stories of relationships gone wrong, will gladly take them. Find out how the museum got started and take an in-depth look at some of its quirkiest pieces in the link below.

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Cool Things To Do in Zagreb

Zagreb is Croatia’s relaxed, charming and pedestrian-friendly capital. Check out Time Out’s definitive Zagreb guide for a diverse set of options of what to explore in the city from unusual museums to legendary flea markets and everything in between.

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Jonathan Bousfield on Diocletian's Legacy in Split

Diocletian’s Palace is the main attraction in Split, the heart and soul of the city. Because of the palace, Split’s city center can be described as a living museum and it draws in the thousands of tourists that visit the city annually. But how much do we really know about the palace’s namesake who built it, the last ruler of a receding empire? Jonathan Bousfield contends that history only gives us a partial answer.

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The Poetry of Zagreb

Cities have served as sources of inspiration, frustration, and discovery for millennia. The subject of sonnets, stories, plays, the power centers of entire cultures, hotbeds of innovation, and the cause of wars, cities are mainstays of the present and the future with millions more people flocking to them every year.

Let the poet, Zagreb native Tomica Bajsić, take you on a lyrical tour of the city. Walk the streets conjured by his graceful words and take in the gentle beauty of the Zagreb of his childhood memories and present day observation.

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You Haven't Experienced Zagreb if You Haven't Been to the Dolac Market

Dolac, the main city market, is a Zagreb institution. Selling all the fresh ingredients you need to whip up a fabulous dinner, from fruits and vegetables to fish, meat and homemade cheese and sausages, the sellers come from all over Croatia. Positioned right above the main square, the colorful market is a beacon of a simpler way of life and is just as bustling as it was a century ago.

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Croatian Phrases Translated into English

Do you find phrases and sayings give personality and flair to a language? Have you ever pondered how the culture and history of a place shape the common phrases? Check out some common sayings in Croatian with their literal translations and actual meanings below.

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Discover Croatia's Archaeological Secrets

Discover Croatia’s rich archaeological secrets, from the well known ancient Roman city of Salona near Split or the Neanderthal museum in Krapina to the often overlooked Andautonia Archaeological Park, just outside of Zagreb, which boasts the excavated ruins of a Roman town or the oldest continuously inhabited town in Europe, Vinkovci.

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Croatian Sites on UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List

A little know fact is that Croatia, together with Spain, have the most cultural and historical heritage under the protection of UNESCO, and Croatia has the highest number of UNESCO intangible goods of any European country.

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Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb

The National Theater in Zagreb, Croatia’s capital, is one of those things which always finds its way to every visitor’s busy schedule.

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Zagreb's Street Art

So you're visiting Zagreb and are curious about it's underground art scene? Check out this guide to Zagreb's street art and explore all the best graffiti artists' work for yourself on your next walk through the city.