November 15, 2022
The jury of the fifth regional Biber Short Story Context, comprising Kalina Maleska, Lejla Kalamujić and Olja Savičević Ivančević, has chosen the winners and the 25 stories that will be published in the multilingual collection.
The authors of the stories to be published are: Aida Šečić Nezirević from Sarajevo, Albina Idrizi from Gnjilane, Amina Kaja from Pristina, Ana Jugo from Vienna, Ana Kutleša from Zagreb, Andrea Hribar Livada from Zagreb, Anica Marcelić from Zaprešić, Ante Storić from Šibenik, Dražana Marković Krezić from Mostar, Dubravka Tintor from Viškovo, Dušan Radaković from Zrenjanin, Ena Katarina Haler from Zagreb, Ernad Osmić from Brčko, Goran Janković from Ljubljana, Lana Bunjevac from Zagreb, Lidija Deduš from Varaždin, Miloš Perišić from Aranđelovac, Naida Mujkić from Doboj, Sanja Mučkajeva Vidanovska from Bitolj, Senad Jusić from Bugojno, Slađana Nina Perković from Banja Luka, Srđan Miljević from Belgrade, Tena Lončarević from Županja, Vasilije Perović from Belgrade, and Vesna Todorovska from Kumanovo.
Biber is a short story contest for engaged stories in Albanian, Macedonian, Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian and Montenegrin. The fifth Biber Contest ran from 10 December 2021 to 1 June 2022. A total of 473 submissions were received (387 in BCSM, 69 in Macedonian, and 17 in Albanian). The theme of the contest is reconciliation in the context of the aftermath of the wars and violence in the countries of former Yugoslavia, but also eligible are stories that can contribute to better understanding among people, reducing hatred and dismantling prejudice, anti-war stories, stories about dealing with the past, deconstructing images of the enemy, about empathy, brave stories that dare walk in the “enemy’s” shoes, stories that push boundaries and open up the way to build a more stable, safer and freer future for all. The competition is organised by the Biber team of the Centre for Nonviolent Action Sarajevo-Belgrade.
We are planning to publish the multilingual short story collection by March 2023 (once all the translations have been prepared).
We would like to thank all the participants in the contest for supporting this idea and sending us their stories. We also thank the phenomenal jury for their excellent cooperation, as well as our diligent and irreplaceable team that worked on the pre-selection.
Below is the jury statement.
Biber Team
Jury Statement
After the pre-selection process, we read and evaluated 101 stories submitted to the contest. We unanimously decided that the three prizes should go to the following stories:
First Prize:
„Doba linjanja” [The Age of Shedding] by Ana Kutleša;
Second Prize:
„Fertik” by Lidija Deduš;
Third Prize:
„Zemlja sreće” [Land of Happiness] by Ante Storić and „Reči” [Words] by Miloš Perišić.
We also decided that the story „Vaške” [Lice] by Dušan Radaković deserved a special mention.
In addition to the above, stories submitted by the following authors will also be included in the collection: Senad Jusić, Ernad Osmić, Slađana Nina Perković, Anica Marcelić, Aida Šečić Nezirević, Tena Lončarević, Andrea Hribar Livada, Naida Mujkić, Albina Idrizi, Vesna Todorovska, Srđan Miljević, Ana Jugo, Lana Bunjevac, Dubravka Tintor, Ena Katarina Haler, Goran Janković, Vasilije Perović, Dražana Marković Krezić, Amina Kaja, and Sanja Mučkajeva Vidanovska.
This year’s selection of stories ranges thematically from dealing with a painful past (often portrayed from the perspective of a child or young person, as is to be expected given the age of the authors) to the challenges of our present time. We were impressed by the courage expressed in many of the stories – to try to walk in someone else’s shoes; to write from the perspective of “the other side”, be that the perspective of another gender, world view, nationality or generation.
We would like to thank all those who took part and express our sincere congratulations to the selected authors.
Lejla Kalamujić
Kalina Maleska
Olja Savičević Ivančević
