Autoren

Daša Drndić



Daša Drndić wurde 1946 in Zagreb geboren. 1968 schloss sie an der Philologischen Fakultät der Universität Belgrad am Lehrstuhl für EnglischeSprache und Literatur ihr Studium ab. Sie arbeitete im Verlagshaus "Vuk Karadžić" und an der Arbeiteruniversität "Đuro Salaj" in Belgrad, bis sie 1970 ein Fulbright-Stipendium für postgraduale Studien an der Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois, USA, erhielt, wo sie 1971 den Magistertitel im Fach Dramaturgie erwarb.
Von 1971 bis 1973 arbeitete Drndić beim Dritten Programm des Radio Belgrads als Dramaturgin, nahm am Salzburg Seminar für Gegenwärtige amerikanische Literatur teil und erhielt daraufhin eines von fünf Stipendien für postgraduale Studien, beziehungsweise für die Arbeit an ihrer Dissertation, am Drama Department der Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, USA (1973-1974), um das sich außer ihr auch amerikanische Studenten beworben hatten. Da ihr Stipendium auslief, führte sie ihre Doktorarbeit nicht zu Ende. Drndić promovierte 2004 in Rijeka zum Thema Protofeminismus und Ideen der politischen und literarischen Linken im amerikanischen Drama. 
Von 1974 bis 1992 arbeitete Daša Drndić als dramaturgische Redakteurin des Hörspielprogramms beim Radio Belgrad. Sie schrieb und veröffentlichte Romane, Erzählungen, Hörspiele, Kritiken und Übersetzungen für Verlagshäuser und Zeitschriften im gesamten Raum Ex-Jugoslawiens. Im damaligen Jugoslawien und im Ausland wurden mehr als 30 ihrer Hörspiele, darunter auch experimentelle und dokumentarische Hörspiele, ausgestrahlt. 
Drndić zog 1992 nach Rijeka in Kroatien, wo sie zunächst als Englischlehrerin in einer Grundschule arbeitete, dann als Englisch-Erzieherin im Kindergarten der Kroatisch-amerikanischen Freundschaft und von Juli 1993 bis Dezember 1994 als Assistentin für Bildung und soziale Programme im UNHCR-Büro Rijeka. In dieser Zeit schrieb sie Kritiken und Rezensionen zu Theatervorstellungen für die Tageszeitung "Slobodna Dalmacija". 
Als Zeichen des Protestes gegen die Intervention der Kroatischen Armee in Bosnien und Herzegowina ging sie 1995 mit ihrer zwölfjährigen Tochter als Flüchtling nach Toronto, Kanada, wo sie bis 1997 blieb. In Toronto unterrichtete sie vorübergehend Kroatisch und Serbisch an der University of Toronto, nach Kroatien schickte sie "Briefe aus Kanada" ("Pisma iz Kanade") für die Tageszeitung "Novi list – Glas Istre" und schrieb das Buch Umiranje u Torontu ("Sterben in Toronto"). Für den kanadischen staatlichen Radiosender CBC erstellte sie drei Dokumentardramen (Features): Children of Our Age, Lost in the Promised Land undThe Church in Croatia. 
Seit 1997 schreibt und veröffentlicht sie Prosabücher, und ihre Hörspiele werden
im Dritten Programm des Kroatischen Radios (HR3) ausgestrahlt. Zwischen 2003 und 2007 waren ihre Hörspiele Oh, Happy Day, Muževi Lile Weiss ("Die Männer der Lila Weiss"), Pupiund Artur i Isabella ("Arthur und Isabella") auch auf dem Festival "Prix Europa" in Berlin vertreten, und einige von ihnen wurden in Finnland, Ungarn, Slowenien und Serbien ausgestrahlt. 
Im Jahr 2004 erhielt Daša Drndić ein Stipendium im Rahmen des Förderprogramms "Artists & Writers in Residence" der Organisation Kulturkontakt Austria und lebte daraufhin zwei Monate lang in Wien, wo sie schrieb und veröffentlichte, und im April 2007 folgte sie der Einladung des Literarischen Colloquiums Berlin zu einem einmonatigen Aufenthalt in dessen Villa für Autoren und Übersetzer am Wannsee, worüber sie zur Zeit ein Buch schreibt. Im September 2004 nahm sie am Internationalen Literaturfestival Vilenica in Slowenien teil. Darüber hinaus ist sie regelmäßig als Referentin zu Gast bei den Tomizza-Tagen – Grenzbegegnungen: Trst-Koper-Umag. Sie nimmt an inländischen und internationalen Veranstaltungen zum Themenbereich Identitäten, Menschenrechte und Freiheiten teil. Sie ist Mitarbeiterin der Zeitschriften Sarajevske sveske, Tvrđa, Europski glasnik, Književna republika, Novi Kamov, Nova Istra u.a.
Daša Drndić schrieb und veröffentlichte etwa 30 Erzählungen, von denen einige in Anthologien aufgenommen und einige mit Preisen ausgezeichnet wurden. So wurde 1993 beispielsweise ihre Erzählung Eeny meeny miney mo – out you go mit dem Preis der Wochenzeitung "The European" ausgezeichnet. Sie übersetzte mehr als tausend Seiten philosophisch-theoretischer Texte, Romane, Essays und Dramen ins und aus dem Englischen (Daiches, Orwell, Hutchinson, Esslin, Burnbaum, Pinter, Borhes, Sanguinetti, Gombrowicz, Auden, Markuze, Lawrence, Brodski, Auster, Trumbo etc.). Von 1968 bis 1991 war sie Mitglied des Verbands literarischer Übersetzer Serbiens. Auszüge aus ihrer Prosa und ihren Hörspielen wurden ins Englische, Deutsche, Französische, Finnische, Ungarische, Polnische, Italienische und Slowenische übersetzt.
Sie ist Mitglied des Kroatischen PEN-Zentrums und des Kroatischen Schriftstellerverbands (HDP) sowie Vorsitzende des Vereins Alleinerziehender "Minus 1". 
 
Prosabücher:
Put do subote ("Der Weg zum Samstag", Prosveta, Belgrad 1982), Kamen s neba ("Stein vom Himmel", Prosveta, Belgrad 1984), Umiranje u Torontu ("Sterben in Toronto", Adamić, Rijeka – Arkzin, Zagreb 1997), Canzone di guerra (Meandar, Zagreb 1998), Totenwände (Meandar, Zagreb 2000), Doppelgänger (Samizdat B92, Belgrad 2002), Leica format (Meandar, Zagreb - Samizdat B92, Belgrad 2003), The False Teeth of Lila Weiss (Toronto Slavic Quarterly, no. 9, 2004), After Eight – književni ogledi ("After Eight – Literarische Betrachtungen", Meandar, Zagreb 2005), Doppelgänger (Faust Vrančić – 90 stupnjeva, Zagreb 2005), Feministički rukopis ili politička parabola: Drame Lillian Hellman ("Feministische Handschrift oder politische Parabel: Dramen von Lillian Hellman", Ženska infoteka, Zagreb 2006), Sonnenschein(Fraktura, Zagreb 2007). 
Im Jahr 2004 wurde das Buch Leica format für die Literaturpreise der Tageszeitungen "Jutarnji list" und "Vijesnik" sowie für den Gjalski- und den Kiklop-Preis nominiert, und 2005 das Werk After Eight, ebenfalls für den Kiklop-Preis. Im Jahr 2007 erhielt Daša Drndić die Literaturpreise "Fran Galović" und "Kiklop" für den Roman des Jahres – Sonnenschein.   

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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 .

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Vlaho Bukovac Exhibition in Zagreb Will Run Through May

Vlaho Bukovac (1855-1922) is arguably Croatia's most renowned painter. Born in the south in Cavtat, he spent some of his most impressionable teenage years in New York with his uncle and his first career was as a sailor, but he soon gave that up due to injury. He went on to receive an education in the fine arts in Paris and began his artistic career there. He lived at various times in New York, San Francisco, Peru, Paris, Cavtat, Zagreb and Prague. His painting style could be classified as Impressionism which incorporated various techniques such as pointilism.

An exhibition dedicated to the works of Vlaho Bukovac will be running in Klovićevi dvori Gallery in Gornji Grad, Zagreb through May 22nd, 2022.

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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New 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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Sandorf Publishing House Launches American Branch

Croatian publishing house Sandorf launched their American branch called Sandorf Passage earlier this year.

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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.

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Zagreb Festivals and Cultural Events

Numerous festivals, shows and exhibitions are held annually in Zagreb. Search our what's on guide to arts & entertainment.

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