Serbo-Croatian – also called Serbo-Croat, Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. It is a pluricentric language with four mutually intelligible standard varieties, namely Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin.
Miroslav Krleža was a Yugoslav and Croatian writer who is widely considered to be the greatest Croatian writer of the 20th century. He wrote notable works in all the literary genres, including poetry, theater, short stories, novels, and an intimate diary. His works often include themes of bourgeois hypocrisy and conformism in Austria-Hungary and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Krleža wrote numerous essays on problems of art, history, politics, literature, philosophy, and military strategy, and was known as one of the great polemicists of the century. His style combines visionary poetic language and sarcasm.
Bihać is a city and the administrative centre of Una-Sana Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on the banks of river Una in northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the Bosanska Krajina region. In 2013 its population was 56,261.
Kosta Apostolov Solev, primarily known as poet Kočo Racin, was a Macedonian author and socialist activist who is considered a founder of modern Macedonian literature. Racin wrote in prose too and created some significant works with themes from history, philosophy, and literary critique. He also wrote in Serbian and Bulgarian. According to some Bulgarian authors, he had pro-Bulgarian views and was a Bulgarian.
Andrej Nikolaidis is a Montenegrin-Bosnian novelist, columnist, and political adviser. His novel Sin won the European Union Prize for Literature in 2011. The English translation was published in 2013 by Istros Books in the United Kingdom.
The European Union Prize for Literature (EUPL), established in 2009, is a European Union literary award. Its aim is to recognise outstanding new literary talents from all over Europe, to promote the circulation and translation of literature amongst European countries, and to highlight the continent's creativity and diversity.
Ognjen Spahić, is a Montenegrin novelist. Spahić has published two collections of short stories: Sve to and Zimska potraga. His novel Hansenova djeca won him the 2005 Meša Selimović Prize for the best new novel from Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina. To date, Hansenova djeca has been published in French, Italian, Slovenian, Romanian, Hungarian, Macedonian and English by the UK publisher Istros Books
Snježana Kordić is a Croatian linguist. In addition to her work in syntax, she has written on sociolinguistics. Kordić is known among non-specialists for numerous articles against the puristic and prescriptive language policy in Croatia. Her 2010 book on language and nationalism popularises the theory of pluricentric languages in the Balkans.
Robert Perišić is a Croatian writer. His books are considered as authentic portrayals of society in transformation and its antiheroes.
Our Man in Iraq is a novel by Croatian author Robert Perišić. It was originally published in Croatia, where it became a bestseller and received the Jutarnji list prize for best prose in 2007. The novel was also awarded the Literaturpreis der Steiermärkischen Sparkasse in 2011.
Srećko Horvat is a Croatian philosopher, author and political activist. The German weekly Der Freitag called him "one of the most exciting voices of his generation" and he has been described as a "fiery voice of dissent in the Post-Yugoslav landscape". His writing has appeared in The Guardian, Al Jazeera, Der Spiegel, Jacobin, Newsweek and The New York Times.
Marija Knežević is a Serbian poet, fiction writer, essayist, literary translator and Professor of literature.
Faruk Šehić is a Bosnian poet, novelist and short story writer. He was born in Bihać and grew up in Bosanska Krupa. He studied veterinary medicine in Zagreb until the outbreak of the Bosnian war in which he was an active combatant. After the war, he turned to literature. His first book was a collection of poems Pjesme u nastajanju. His short story collection Pod pritiskom was published in 2004 and won the Zoro Verlag Prize. The English translation of Under Pressure was published in May 2019 by Istros Books. His debut novel Knjiga o Uni, was translated into English in 2016 by Istros Books and into Italian in 2017 by E. Mujčić for Mimesis, and also into Romanian, Bulgarian, Turkish, Spanish, Macedonian, Arabic, Dutch, Polish, Slovenian and Hungarian language. Quiet Flows the Una won the Meša Selimović prize for the best novel published in the former Yugoslavia in 2011, and the EU Prize for Literature in 2013. His most recent poetry book is a collection of poetry entitled ‘My Rivers’ for whom he received Risto Ratković Award for the best poetry book in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Croatia in 2014, and Annual award from Association of Writers of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He also received XXXI Premio Letterario Camaiore Francesco Belluomini for selected poems "Ritorno alla natura" as a youngest laureate so far. In 2018, he published short stories collection "Clockwork Stories". Šehić lives in Sarajevo, where he works as a columnist and journalist. He is a member of the Writers’ Association and the PEN Centre of Bosnia and Herzegovina. His books have been translated into 15 languages and published in 19 countries. In 2017, Šehić has signed the Declaration on the Common Language of the Croats, Serbs, Bosniaks and Montenegrins.
Vladislav Bajac is Serbian writer, poet, journalist and publisher.
Olja Savičević Ivančević is a Croatian novelist, poet and playwright. She is a winner of the Grand Prize of the Druga prikazna Macedonian Literary Festival (2018), the T-Portal Award for Best Novel (2011), and the Mali Marulić prize for theatre.
Marinko Koščec is a Croatian writer.
The Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses is an annual British literary prize founded by the author Neil Griffiths. It rewards fiction published by UK and Irish small presses, defined as those with fewer than five full-time employees. The prize money – initially raised by crowdfunding and latterly augmented by sponsorship – is divided between the publishing house and the author.
Istros books is a London-based independent publisher of writers from South-East Europe and the Balkans, in English translation. It was set up in 2011 by Susan Curtis.
The Declaration on the Common Language was issued in 2017 by a group of intellectuals and NGOs from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia who were working under the banner of a project called "Language and Nationalism". The Declaration states that Bosniaks, Croats, Montenegrins and Serbs have a common standard language of the polycentric type.
Celia Hawkesworth is an author, lecturer, and translator of Serbo-Croatian.
