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.
Back home
Back home is only open in July and August.
Back home is as big as I want.
Back home cannot sentence me to several years of affection –
suspended.
The sun of foreign skies has given some excellent results.
Back home is naive.
Almost anybody can sneak his way in.
Back home has poor musical taste.
Back home is ruled by the worst of lyricists.
Back home has the floor space of a second house.
Love for back home is unrequited.
Back home on the road.
Use back home against back home.
Small town cinemas
In small town cinemas
time seems on stand by
Therein yesterday’s heroes
are still rated high
Those wretched theatres
certainly won’t ever play
the works of Bergman, Antonioni
or the films of the New Wave
In small town cinemas
bad features are the latest trend
Only on those patched-up screens
justice still prevails in the end
Intolerance
(prose in poetry)
In the greatest of his films – and perhaps one of the greatest
movies of all times – entitled “Intolerance”, Griffith goes all the way
back to Babylon, only to return to this day.
The whole of history is a history of intolerance –
racial, religious, national, sexual, cultural...
Death to variety! Long live uniformity!
Or as our folk would say: as soon as they met they cut each other down!
Krle`a says that humanity‘s passage to the future
has been lit up by burning faggots.
Prophets, visionaries and astronomers burned.
Women, paintings, houses and books all swallowed up in flames.
Goodness gracious! Think about all that burning light!
Pyromaniacs never seem to give up.
Always finding something new for kindling.
It seems that man could endure without love or goodness,
without tenderness or bread, but without intolerance – oh no!
It keeps him alive. It keeps groups and mobs in place.
But stubborn peace builders continue to be born nevertheless
hoping they will find something to save.
Even in these messy regions one finds them – the sanctified ones.
But if one could only know the origins of this infamous intolerance
of ours?
Final song XIII
It’s all behind us now: the snow and heat
I was Judas and I was Christ
But a man can also be like Candide
and remain after all pure as light
The mystery’s finally been solved
now that Death is pulling at our bell
I should have from the outset tilled
my garden – minded my cattle well.
How many mountains how many seas
it takes to come to a humble opinion:
the real wisdom lies nearby Solin
in growing cabbage and planting onion.
(Candide)
* * *
Two dead children playing
in a nicely manicured park.
They’re sticking fingers
into each others’ crossed out chasms.
Making macabre love.
Two dead children playing
among the beautifully trimmed greenery.
They’re swimming
in my infant fountain
while goldfish nibble
at their remains
to the tune of love’s marching band:
Dichter und Bauer.
Can’t you see
we’ve been ready for such an ending
from the very beginning?
* * *
All the things I have learned while being ill.
First of all:
the illness itself.
What else have I learned while being ill?
It is easier being ill
in one’s own language and on one’s own turf.
Illness makes you lonesome.
Relatives lie.
Friends run out of new sentences.
Illness beats skiing.
Illness deserves credit
for many a glorious death.
I’ve learned to read and write things
I would have never learned in good health.
It is easier to hearten someone
than to lie ill.
Those who have been seriously ill
possess deeper knowledge.
Illness should be left to the young.
Some wounds are beatified, some heal by themselves,
says illness clad in folk costume.
Illness has advanced.
Illness hatches in a weak heart.
My illness has brought cheer
to many.
I have been ill for too short a time.
Death is the anteroom of sickness.
* * *
The Church of St Anthony
sinks deep like a sail.
In a fog choking
on its own breath.
We are disgraced by death.
Here the withered wreaths of the unknown
are drowned.
Anyone who’s ready for a crag
will not come back the same way.
The man fooled himself
minding a drunk
guardian angel.
Please unfasten your kiss
from my neck.
Two shadows roll in dearth –
two paintings by Morandi.
Fog kisses us.
Am I...
We are bathing in a glass
of cold milk.
Have I come all the way to Padua
just to die?
Padua
Amidst winter
and on summer days
these people are like saints.
Padua
In the midst of winter
and in summertime
every door is as if holy.
Padua
Under the shadow of a drenched cathedral.
each one of us is so small.
Padua
I’d like more heat.
I lack light and warmth.
Padua
For all there is but one bet:
the taste of play, the taste of death.
Padua
Let’s end this toil
either in body
or in soul.
Nurses
we have no nursing sisters of our own
our mothers burn on stakes
my sister was dumped
in a common grave pit in [ibenik
nameless
our daughters persecute each other
teaching their kids
who don’t recognise us
how to speak in mysterious tongues
you dear sisters dear nurses
you are handling the worst of our limbs
while false concubines
carve failed love’s pillars
on our bitter foundations
while you cup your warm palms
on battlefields to gather
the unconsecrated blood
of our armies
so never mind the doctors
let me kiss your hands
frost-bitten and bluish
like two frozen mackerels
* * *
Sealess landscapes
with no one really to call their own.
They steer their fate
according to the wind alone.
Sealess landscapes
cannot see
because they are blindfolded
with a black strap.
Their inhabitants
are prisoners.
They eat prison bread.
Their inhabitants
are convicts
but somewhere there is a crack
and the heavenly light
that children are so afraid of
is already seeping in
and everything is unfolding
like a long lost book.
While the sea is beating
against the doors and the windows
so hard it seems
everything is going to
break open
at once.
Translated by Damir Šodan
Nakon šireg izbora slijedi uži izbor nagrade ''Sedmica & Kritična masa'' za mlade prozne autore. Pogledajte tko su sedmero odabranih.
Natječaj ''Sedmica & Kritična masa'' za mlade autorice i autore do 35 godina starosti bliži se svome kraju. Ovo je peto izdanje nagrade, utemeljene 2015. godine, koja pruža pregled mlađe prozne scene (širi i uži izbor) i promovira nova prozna imena. Prva nagrada iznosi 5.000 kuna (bruto iznos) i dodjeljuje se uz plaketu. Prethodnih su godina nagradu dobile Ana Rajković, Jelena Zlatar, Marina Gudelj i Mira Petrović.
NAGRADA "SEDMICA & KRITIČNA MASA" - UŽI IZBOR 2020.
Marina Gudelj (1988., Split) završila je Hrvatski jezik i književnost na Sveučilištu u Zadru. Radi kao nastavnica Hrvatskog jezika u školi. Prvi književni rad, kratka priča Semafor, šahta, apoteka, birtija objavljena je u Zarezu 2015. godine. Iste je godine osvojila prvu književnu nagradu na portalu KSET-a za priču Kamo idu irske mačke. 2017. godine osvaja prvo mjesto na natječaju Kritične mase za priču Lee. S istom pričom iduće godine sudjeluje na LitLink festivalu u Zagrebu. 2018. godine osvaja treće mjesto s pričom Dulcinea na konjaku na 17. izdanju Festivala europske kratke priče, a krajem iste godine ulazi u uži izbor natječaja Prvi Prozak i Na vrhu jezika s pričom Vještica. 2019. godine osvaja nagradu Prvi Prozak za autore do 35 godina starosti, a objava zbirke priča očekuje se sredinom 2020. godine.
NAGRADA "SEDMICA & KRITIČNA MASA" - UŽI IZBOR 2020.
Vid Hribar (1993., Zagreb) je trenutno na završnoj godini diplomskog studija na odsjeku dramaturgije pri Akademiji dramske umjetnosti u Zagrebu. Piše scenarije, drame, poeziju, kratke priče, uz to se bavi komponiranjem i sviranjem klavira u brojnim zagrebačkim bendovima. Na radiju se izvode njegove ''Nule i ništice'' (2017.), radiodrama inspirirana motivima Harmsove istoimene zbirke kratkih priča, drama ''Oskarov san'' (2019.) te ''Od Vlaške do Britanca'' (2019.). Njegova drama ''Tuneli'' prevedena je na makedonski jezik od strane Makedonskog centra ITI, a njegova drama ''404'' objavljena je na portalu drame.hr. Kao kompozitor radi na nizu kazališnih, filmskih, televizijskih te radiodramskih projekata.
NAGRADA "SEDMICA & KRITIČNA MASA" - UŽI IZBOR 2020.
Luca Kozina (1990., Split) piše prozu i poeziju. Radovi su joj objavljeni u časopisima: Zarez, Fantom Slobode, Mogućnosti, Republika, u zborniku Rukopisi 43 te na internetu (Zvona i Nari, Književnost Uživo, Kultipraktik, Nema). Dobitnica je nagrade Prozak za 2019. godinu. Piše književne kritike za portal Booksa. Članica je književne grupe NKV.
NAGRADA "SEDMICA & KRITIČNA MASA" - ŠIRI IZBOR 2020.
Petra Bolić (1992., Varaždinu) studirala je francuski jezik i književnost, kulturološku germanistiku i književno-interkulturalnu južnoslavistiku na Filozofskom fakultetu u Zagrebu i Karl-Franzens Universität u Grazu. Znanstveno polje interesa su joj njemačko-južnoslavenski kulturno-književni transferi i suvremena slovenska proza. U slobodno se vrijeme bavi književnim prevođenjem i književnom kritikom. Vlastitu je kratku prozu do današnjega dana skrivala u ladicama.
NAGRADA "SEDMICA & KRITIČNA MASA" - ŠIRI IZBOR 2020.
Ivana Pintarić (1988., Zagreb) je edukacijski rehabilitator. Piše poeziju i kratke priče. Ulomkom iz romana ''Gorimo (ali ne boli više)'' ušla je u finale izbora za nagradu "Sedmica & Kritična masa" 2015. godine. Ulazi u širi izbor nagrade "Sedmica & Kritična masa" 2017. ulomkom iz romana "Ovo nije putopis o Americi". Bila je polaznica Booksine radionice pisanja kratke priče pod mentorstvom Zorana Ferića. Objavila je radove na portalima kultipraktik.org i booksa.hr. Objavila je priču u časopisu Fantom slobode. Članica je književne grupe ZLO koja okuplja mlade pisce različitih književnih afiniteta i usmjerenja, koji zajednički promiču ''mladu'' književnost, sudjeluju na književnim natječajima, festivalima te organiziraju književne susrete i čitanja.
NAGRADA "SEDMICA & KRITIČNA MASA" - ŠIRI IZBOR 2020.
Josip Čekolj (1999., Zabok) student je treće godine kroatistike te etnologije i kulturne antropologije na Filozofskom fakultetu u Zagrebu. Dosad je svoje pjesme i kratke priče objavljivao u hrvatskim i regionalnim časopisima i zbornicima poput ''Rukopisa'', ''Alepha'', ''PoZiCe'', zbornika Gornjogradskog književnog festivala, Po(e)zitive i drugih te na portalima Kritična masa, Strane, Poeziju na štrikove, Čovjek-časopis i NEMA. Ovog ljeta izdaje dječju slikovnicu ''Srna i Mak u potrazi za uplašenim mjesecom'' u nakladi Mala zvona. S pjesničkim rukopisom ''Junaci i zmajevi su izumiruće vrste'' ušao je uži krug za nagradu ''Na vrh jezika'' 2019. godine.
NAGRADA "SEDMICA & KRITIČNA MASA" - ŠIRI IZBOR 2020.
Ana Vučić (1992., Karlovac) još uvijek pokušava završiti Kroatistiku i Sociologiju na Filozofskom fakultetu u Zagrebu. Dosad su joj objavljene neke pjesme i jedan ulomak u studentskim časopisima i na Kritičnoj masi. Otkad je Jastrebarsko zamijenila Zagrebom piše tek neznatno više. U slobodno vrijeme čita, gleda sport i serije te mašta o obrani diplomskog rada u normalnim okolnostima. Vrhuncem svoje dosadašnje književne karijere smatra sudjelovanje na prvoj Kroeziji u kafiću Luxor.
NAGRADA "SEDMICA & KRITIČNA MASA" - ŠIRI IZBOR 2020.
Ivan Katičić (1990., Split) objavio je zbirku kratkih priča ''Pet metara bliže zvijezdama'' (Pučko otvoreno učilište Velika Gorica, 2016.). Živi i ne radi u Omišu.
NAGRADA "SEDMICA & KRITIČNA MASA" - ŠIRI IZBOR 2020.
Gabrijel Delić (1998., Zagreb) napisao je nekoliko članaka na temu automobilizma objavljenih na jednoj britanskoj web-stranici i poneku kratku priču od kojih je zadnja objavljena u regionalnom natječaju ''Biber'' za 2019. godinu.