Dubravka Ugrešić

Author profile

born

in Zagreb, Croatia

January 01, 1949

website

http://www.dubravkaugresic.com/

genre

Contemporary

About this author

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Dubravka Ugrešić earned her degrees in Comparative Literature, Russian Language and Literature at the University of Zagreb, and worked for twenty years at the Institute for Theory of Literature at Zagreb University, successfully pursuing parallel careers as a writer and a literary scholar.

She started writing professionally with screenplays for children’s television programs, as an undergraduate. In 1971 she published her first book for children Mali plamen, which was awarded a prestigious Croatian literary prize for children’s literature. Ugresic published two more books (Filip i Srecica, 1976; Kucni duhovi, 1988), and then gave up writing for children.

As a literary scholar Dubravka Ugresic was particularly interested in Russian avant-garde...more Dubravka Ugrešić earned her degrees in Comparative Literature, Russian Language and Literature at the University of Zagreb, and worked for twenty years at the Institute for Theory of Literature at Zagreb University, successfully pursuing parallel careers as a writer and a literary scholar.

She started writing professionally with screenplays for children’s television programs, as an undergraduate. In 1971 she published her first book for children Mali plamen, which was awarded a prestigious Croatian literary prize for children’s literature. Ugresic published two more books (Filip i Srecica, 1976; Kucni duhovi, 1988), and then gave up writing for children.

As a literary scholar Dubravka Ugresic was particularly interested in Russian avant-garde culture. She was a co-editor of the international scholarly project Pojmovnik ruske avangarde, (A Glossary of the Russian Avangarde) for many years. She rediscovered forgotten Russian writers such as Konstantin Vaginov and Leonid Dobychin, and published a book on Russian contemporary fiction (Nova ruska proza, 1980). She translated fiction into Croatian from Russian (Boris Pilnyak, Gola godina; Daniil Kharms, Nule i nistice), and edited anthologies of both Russian contemporary (Pljuska u ruci, 1989) and avant-garde writing.

Dubravka Ugresic was best known in the former Yugoslavia for her fiction, novels and short stories: Poza za prozu, 1978; Stefica Cvek u raljama zivota, 1981; Zivot je bajka, 1983; Forsiranje romana reke, 1988. Her novel Forsiranje romana reke was given the coveted NIN-award for the best novel of the year: Ugresic was the first woman to receive this honor. Croatian film director Rajko Grlic made a film U raljama zivota (1984) based on Ugresic’s short novel Stefica Cvek u raljama zivota. Ugresic co-authored the screenplay, as she did with screenplays for two other movies and a TV drama.

In 1991, when the war broke out in the former Yugoslavia, Ugresic took a firm anti-nationalistic stand and consequently an anti-war stand. She started to write critically about nationalism (both Croatian and Serbian), the stupidity and criminality of war, and soon became a target of the nationalistically charged media, officials, politicians, fellow writers and anonymous citizens. She was proclaimed a “traitor”, a “public enemy” and a “witch”, ostracized and exposed to harsh and persistent media harassment. She left Croatia in 1993.

Dubravka Ugresic has continued writing since she began living abroad. She has published both novels (Muzej bezuvjetne predaje, Ministarstvo boli) and books of essays (Americki fikcionar, Kultura lazi, Zabranjeno citanje, Nikog nema doma). Ugresic’s essays have appeared in American (“Context”, “The Hedgehog Review”) and European newspapers and magazines (such as “Vrij Nederland”, “NRC Handelsblad”, “Die Zeit”, “Neue Zurcher Zeitung”, “Die Welt Woche”, and many others). She teaches occasionally at American and European universities. Her books have been translated into more then twenty languages. Dubravka Ugresic has received several major European literary awards.

She is based in Amsterdam today, working as a freelance writer.(less)

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Dubravka Ugrešić's Books

Average rating: 3.80 · 1,755 ratings · 202 reviews · 24 distinct works · Similar authors

	Baba Yaga Laid an Egg by Dubravka Ugrešić, Ellen Elias-Bursać (Translator), Celia Hawkesworth (Translator) 3.59 of 5 stars 3.59 avg rating — 384 ratings — published 2004 — 15 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Ministry of Pain by Dubravka Ugrešić, Michael Henry Heim (Translator) 3.76 of 5 stars 3.76 avg rating — 327 ratings — published 2004 — 19 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Museum of Unconditional Surrender by Dubravka Ugrešić, Celia Hawkesworth 3.95 of 5 stars 3.95 avg rating — 233 ratings — published 1997 — 10 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Štefica Cvek u raljama života 3.73 of 5 stars 3.73 avg rating — 190 ratings — published 1981 — 9 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Thank You for Not Reading 3.86 of 5 stars 3.86 avg rating — 139 ratings — published 2001 — 9 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Culture of Lies: Antipolitical Essays by Dubravka Ugrešić, Celia Hawkesworth (Translator) 4.23 of 5 stars 4.23 avg rating — 102 ratings — published 1995 — 9 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Nobody's Home 3.83 of 5 stars 3.83 avg rating — 77 ratings — published 2005 — 8 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Fording the Stream of Consciousness by Dubravka Ugrešić, Dubravka Ugrešić, Michael Henry Heim (Translation) 3.86 of 5 stars 3.86 avg rating — 70 ratings — published 1988 — 7 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Karaoke Culture by Dubravka Ugrešić, David Williams (translator), Ellen Elias-Bursać (translator) 3.98 of 5 stars 3.98 avg rating — 47 ratings — published 2011 — 4 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Lend Me Your Character by Dubravka Ugrešić, Michael Henry Heim, Celia Hawkesworth 4.07 of 5 stars 4.07 avg rating — 44 ratings — published 2005	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Quotes by Dubravka Ugrešić

“Чуждата страна е там, където никой не ни посреща при пристигане ...”
― Dubravka Ugrešić, The Ministry of Pain

4 people liked it

“Her mind still worked, her feet still moved, she could walk, though only with the help of a walker, but walk she did, and she was a human being who knew for certainty that beans are best in salad and that old age is a terrible calamity.”
― Dubravka Ugrešić, Baba Yaga Laid an Egg

3 people liked it

“Защо напуснахте родината си? Защото за детето, което на другите езици "спи като ангел", моят народ казва, че спи "като заклано"!”
― Dubravka Ugrešić, The Ministry of Pain

3 people liked it

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