Aleksandar Gatalica ( sr-cyr, Александар Гаталица; born 1964) is a

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

n writer, critic and translator, best known for his novel ''The Great War'', for which he won the

NIN Award The ''NIN'' Award ( sr, Ninova nagrada, italics=yes, Нинова награда), officially the Award for Best Novel of the Year, is a prestigious Serbian (and previously Yugoslavian) literary award established in 1954 by the ''NIN'' weekly an ...

for best Serbian novel of the year. His works has been translated in more than ten languages.

Biography

Gatalica was born in 1964 in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

, where he graduated world literature with

Old Greek Old Greek is the Greek language as spoken from Late Antiquity (c. AD 400) to around AD 1500. Greek spoken during this period is usually split into: *Late Greek (c. 400 – c. 800 AD) *Medieval Greek (c. 800 – c. 1500 AD) "Old Greek" (OG) is also ...

at Faculty of Philology,

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade ( sr, / ) is a public university in Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it merged with the Kragujevac-b ...

. He worked as editor of the Pages on world literature (''Danas'' daily), editor of Blic knjiga publishing company, editor of Serbian PEN Centre editions, art director of

Madlenianum Opera and Theatre Madlenianum Opera and Theatre is an opera house and theatre located in Zemun, Belgrade, Serbia. It is the first privately owned opera and theater company both in Serbia and in Southeast Europe. It is located in Belgrade, Serbia, and was founded ...

and first president of

National Library of Serbia The National Library of Serbia ( sr, Народна библиотека Србије, Narodna biblioteka Srbije) is the national library of Serbia, located in the capital city of Belgrade. It is the biggest library, and oldest institution in Ser ...

Foundation. Gatalica is also noted as editor of several anthologies in Serbian and other languages. A noted translator, Gatalica translated works of authors such as

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek ...

Sophocles Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or co ...

Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful e ...

and pioneerly translatated great part of ancient poets, such as:

Sappho Sappho (; el, Σαπφώ ''Sapphō'' ; Aeolic Greek ''Psápphō''; c. 630 – c. 570 BC) was an Archaic Greek poet from Eresos or Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. Sappho is known for her Greek lyric, lyric poetry, written to be sung while ...

Mimnermus Mimnermus ( grc-gre, Μίμνερμος ''Mímnermos'') was a Greek elegiac poet from either Colophon or Smyrna in Ionia, who flourished about 632–629 BC (i.e. in the 37th Olympiad, according to Suda). He was strongly influenced by the examp ...

Solon Solon ( grc-gre, Σόλων; BC) was an Athenian statesman, constitutional lawmaker and poet. He is remembered particularly for his efforts to legislate against political, economic and moral decline in Archaic Athens.Aristotle ''Politics'' ...

Archilochus Archilochus (; grc-gre, Ἀρχίλοχος ''Arkhilokhos''; c. 680 – c. 645 BC) was a Greek lyric poet of the Archaic period from the island of Paros. He is celebrated for his versatile and innovative use of poetic meters, and is the ea ...

Hipponax Hipponax ( grc, Ἱππῶναξ; ''gen''. Ἱππώνακτος; fl. late 6th century BC), of Ephesus and later Clazomenae, was an Ancient Greek iambic poet who composed verses depicting the vulgar side of life in Ionian society. He was celebrat ...

and

Anacreon Anacreon (; grc-gre, Ἀνακρέων ὁ Τήϊος; BC) was a Greek lyric poet, notable for his drinking songs and erotic poems. Later Greeks included him in the canonical list of Nine Lyric Poets. Anacreon wrote all of his poetry in the ...

. He has written music critique for many newspapers and published several books of music critique. In 2016 Gatalica conducted a series of interviews with contemporary Serbian authors for

Radio Television of Serbia Radio Television of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl, Радио-телевизија Србије, sr-Lat, Radio-televizija Srbije, italics=yes; abbr. RTS/PTC) is Serbia's public broadcaster. It broadcasts and produces news, drama, and sports programming thro ...

Works

*''Rubinstein vs Horowitz'', 1999. *''The Life Lines'', 1993. *''Govorite li klasični?'', 1994. *''Reversed Faces'', 1995. *''The Mimicries'', 1996. *''Crno i belo'', 1998. *''The Century'', 1999. *''The End'', 2001. *''The golden Era of Pianism'', 2002. *''Euripides death'', 2002. *''Belgrade for Foreigners'', 2004. * ''Kvadratura nota'', 2004. *''A Dialog with Delusions'', 2006. *''Diary of Conquered Architects'', 2006. *''The Inivisible'', 2008. *''Anegdote o velikim muzičarima'', 2010. *''The Great War'', 2012. *''Poslednji Argonaut'', 2018. *''Sonata for A Malevolent Man'' *''Two headed Pin''

Translations

* Aeschylus - Prometej u okovima * Sophocles - Gospodar Edip, * Euripides - Alkesta, 1993. * Umetnička lirika stare Grčke, 1994. * Dvojica jambičara, 1998. * Euripides - Ifigenijina smrt u Aulidi, 2002. * Helenska poezija, 2003. * Euripid izabrane drame, 2007. * Sophocles - Gospodar Edip i Edip na Kolonu, 2011.

Awards

Miloš Crnjanski Miloš Crnjanski ( sr-cyr, Милош Црњански, ; 26 October 1893 – 30 November 1977) was a Serbian writer and poet of the expressionist wing of Serbian modernism, author, and a diplomat. Biography Crnjanski was born in Csongrád (mode ...

Award *

Giorgio La Pira Giorgio La Pira, TOSD (Raimondo in religious life; 9 January 1904 – 5 November 1977) was an Italian Catholic politician who served as the Mayor of Florence. He also served as deputy of the Christian Democrats and participated in the assembl ...

Award * Andrić Award *

Meša Selimović Mehmed "Meša" Selimović (; ; 26 April 1910 – 11 July 1982) was a Yugoslav writer, whose novel '' Death and the Dervish'' is one of the most important literary works in post-World War II Yugoslavia. Some of the main themes in his works are the ...

Award * Most widely read book in National Library of Serbia in 2013, and 2014 *

Umberto Saba Umberto Saba (9 March 1883 – 26 August 1957) was an Italian poet and novelist, born Umberto Poli in the cosmopolitan Mediterranean port of Trieste when it was the fourth largest city of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Poli assumed the pen name " ...

Award *

Stevan Sremac Stevan Sremac ( sr-cyr, Стеван Сремац, ; 11 November 1855 – 13 August 1906) was a Serbian realist and comedy writer. He is considered one of the best truly humorous Serbian writers. Biography Stevan Sremac was born in Senta in B ...

Award *

Dejan Medaković Dejan Medaković ( sr-cyr, Дејан Медаковић; 7 July 1922 – 1 July 2008) was a Serbian art historian, writer and academician. Medaković had served as President of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts from 1998 to 2003, as Dean ...

Award * Award'' Kočićevo pero'' * Nagrada Udruženja dramskih umetnika * Liplje Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gatalica, Aleksandar Serbian novelists Writers from Belgrade Serbian male short story writers Serbian short story writers Living people 1964 births