Vesna Main

Last updated

Vesna Main (born Zagreb, Croatia) is a UK-based novelist, short-story writer, and Goldsmiths Prize nominee (shortlist).

Contents

Biography

Vesna Main was born in Zagreb, Croatia, and later moved to Britain, where she has lived for much of her life. [1] [2] She holds a BA in Comparative Literature, an MA in Shakespeare Studies and a PhD in Elizabethan Drama from the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham. [3] [1] Before turning to full-time fiction writing, she taught literature at universities in the UK and Nigeria and worked for the BBC. [4] As of recent years she divides her time between London (UK) and a small village in Poitou-Charentes, France. [1] [2]

Career

Her short story collection Temptation: A User’s Guide (Salt, 2018) followed earlier publications and cemented her reputation for sharp, unconventional writing. [5] Her novel Good Day? (Salt, 2019) is told entirely in dialogue and was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize in 2019. [6] Her most recent novel Waiting for a Party (Salt, 2024) was published to positive critical reception. [7] [8]

Awards and honours

Selected works

Reception and critical commentary

Her most recent novel Waiting for a Party has been described as “surprising and refreshing … a vivid exploration of late female longing and desire” in The Irish Times. [12] A review in The TLS commented that the novel invites reconsideration of what constitutes a life-well-lived, as the ninety-two-year-old protagonist re-evaluates marriage, friendship and sexuality. [8]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Vesna Main". The Society of Authors. Retrieved 2025-11-22.
  2. 1 2 Peirson-Hagger, Ellen (2019-10-31). "Vesna Main: "Literature is art, not a commodity"". New Statesman. Retrieved 2025-11-22.
  3. ↑ "Zip - The Bombay Literary Magazine | TBLM" . Retrieved 2025-11-22.
  4. ↑ "Vesna Main". Seagull Books. Retrieved 2025-11-22.
  5. ↑ Books, Women Writers Women (2024-11-16). "Authors Interviewing Characters: Vesna Main". Women Writers, Women's Books. Retrieved 2025-11-22.
  6. ↑ "Good Day?". Goldsmiths, University of London. Retrieved 2025-11-22.
  7. ↑ Peirson-Hagger, Ellen (2019-10-31). "Vesna Main: "Literature is art, not a commodity"". New Statesman. Retrieved 2025-11-22.
  8. 1 2 "Unacknowledged longing". TLS. Retrieved 2025-11-22.
  9. ↑ "2019 Prize". Goldsmiths, University of London. Retrieved 2025-11-22.
  10. ↑ "Good Day?, Vesna Main". Salt. Retrieved 2025-11-22.
  11. ↑ "Only a Lodger . . . And Hardly That by Vesna Main". Seagull Books. Retrieved 2025-11-22.
  12. ↑ Kelly, Julia. "Waiting for a Party by Vesna Main review: surprising and refreshing". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2025-11-22.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.