Writer Wednesday: Vladislav Bajac

Award-winning novelist Vladislav Bajac considers writing his first book of poetry at just eighteen years old to be his greatest mistake. A feat that most would consider anything but a mistake, Vladislav felt he needed more experience, and a hiatus, before continuing his career in writing. It would be fourteen years before he published again. During this period, Vladislav spent much of his time in his hometown of Belgrade, Serbia, a place that has experienced significant changes throughout the last couple of decades. Serbia was formerly part of the Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia. Shifting borders has caused its residents to question their culture and identity. Vladislav says “I belong to a generation that has no homeland anymore; the first one, the homeland of my childhood, is gone.”

The question of identity emerges within Vladislav’s published works of the late eighties and nineties, as well as his most recent book, Hamam Balkania. This book is set in the Ottoman Empire in the 1500s and revolves around a kidnapped boy who serves the Sultan. The book seamlessly alternates between story lines and perspectives.

In an interview Vladislav remarked that:

“I think I reached something that I have never reached before in any book I wrote. However, the book is not only written by the author, it is written by the reader as well. You can’t say that you’ve finished the writing of the book until it is read well.”

In 2008, Vladislav won the international Balkanika prize for the best novel in the Balkans. Undoubtedly, it was well-received and well-read. Since then, the book has been translated into over a dozen languages.

Gradually, Vladislav has begun to take steps to achieve a larger goal of introducing more Serbian literature to the world. One statistic from the University of Rochester claims that a mere 3% of books published annually in English are translated works. This monumental task of going global has not been easy; though, it has been possible through the creation of Geopoetika, a publishing company founded by Vladislav. The company prides itself on publishing a small quantity of books, but all with emphasis on high quality. Through Geopoetika, Vladislav created the Serbian Prose in Translation program (SPIT). This program brings Serbian stories to the English market. Whether promoting Serbian authors or working on his own novels, there’s a good chance we’ll be hearing more from Vladislav Bajac soon.

Works Cited