The Association of Writers of Yugoslavia or the Yugoslav Writer's Union ( sh, Savez književnika Jugoslavije, sl, Zveza književnikov Jugoslavije, mk, Сојузот на писателите на Југославија) was an

umbrella organisation An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and ofte ...

of 6 of the constituent republics' writers associations in the

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

. The Association coordinated cooperation between its member organizations. From 1965 onwards, the Association was transformed into a coordination body of its members at the time; the

Association of Writers of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Association of Writers of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( bs, Društvo pisaca Bosne i Hercegovine, Друштво писаца Босне и Херцеговине) is a professional organisation of poets, essayists, novelists, and other writers in Bos ...

, the Association of Writers of Montenegro, the

Croatian Writers' Association Croatian Writers' Association ( hr, Društvo hrvatskih književnika; abbreviated DHK) is the official association of Croatian writers. It was founded in 1900 in Zagreb with the goal "to unite writers and help them support one another, and promote ...

, the

Association of Writers of Serbia The Association of Writers of Serbia ( Serbian: Удружење књижевника Србије, ''Udruženje književnika Srbije'') is Serbia's official writing association. Its current president is Milovan Vitezović. History The association ...

Association of Writers of Macedonia Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

and the

Slovene Writers' Association The Slovene Writers' Association ( sl, Društvo slovenskih pisateljev) is a non-profit association of Slovene writers based in Ljubljana. The association was founded on 21 April 1872 in Ljubljana at the initiative of Davorin Trstenjak who also be ...

Ivo Andrić Ivo Andrić ( sr-Cyrl, Иво Андрић, ; born Ivan Andrić; 9 October 1892 – 13 March 1975) was a Yugoslav novelist, poet and short story writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1961. His writings dealt mainly with life in ...

was unanimously elected as the first president of the Association in 1946. With progressive decentralisation and confederalisation of Yugoslavia itself, exemplified in the

1974 Yugoslav Constitution The 1974 Yugoslav Constitution was the fourth and final constitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It came into effect on 21 February 1974. With 406 original articles, the 1974 constitution was one of the longest constitutio ...

, the importance of the federal association became less prominent from 1970s onwards with republican association attaining more central place in literary life of the country. Following the last Congress in 1985 in

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pan ...

association became one of the first federal institutions which experienced paralyzing querals leading to effective and never formally declared dissolution in 1990. The crisis deepened already in 1986 when Serbian republican branch proposed

Miodrag Bulatović Miodrag Bulatović ( cnr-Cyrl, Миодраг Булатовић; 20 February 1930 – 15 March 1991), was a writer, novelist, journalist and playwright. He is considered to be one of the best Montenegrin novelists and remains the most translated M ...

as the new president of the association's rotating presidency to which Serbian candidate was to be elected at the time. This candidate was rejected by Slovenian, Kosovan, Montenegrin and Croatian branch whose delegates claimed that the candidate was hostile to other Yugoslav nations.

History

Following the 1948 Tito-Stalin split increased plurality developed in Yugoslav literature with Miroslav Krleža's speech at the Third Congress of the Association in

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

in 1952, which epitomised artistic distancing from previously promoted

socialist realism Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is ch ...

. In 1956, the Association sent Petar Guberina as the Yugoslav observer representative to the

Congress of Black Writers and Artists The Congress of Black Writers and Artists ( French: ''Congrès des écrivains et artistes noirs''; originally called the Congress of Negro Writers and Artists) was a meeting of leading black intellectuals for the purpose of addressing the issues of ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

who attended the second Congress in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 1959 as well. In 1958, the Association nominated Yugoslav author

as its first ever candidate for the

Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...

, a prize he would receive in 1961. In 1966 the Association broke off all formal relations with the Union of Writers of Bulgaria after Bulgarian partners rejected to sign a document in

Macedonian language Macedonian (; , , ) is an Eastern South Slavic language. It is part of the Indo-European language family, and is one of the Slavic languages, which are part of a larger Balto-Slavic branch. Spoken as a first language by around two million ...

. Relations were not re-established until the end of the existence of the Association as the Yugoslav side insisted that all of the agreements will be signed in

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

and Macedonian language.

Congresses

* 1st Congress,

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 ...

PR Serbia , life_span = 1944–1992 , status = Constituent state of Yugoslavia , p1 = Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia , flag_p1 = Flag of German Reich (1935–1945).svg , p2 ...

(17-19 November 1946) :::''The event took place at the Ilija M. Kolarac Endowment building with 40 delegates from Serbia, 40 from Croatia, 25 from Slovenia, 9 from Bosnia and Herzegovina, 6 from Vojvodina, 6 from Macedonia and 3 from Montenegro in attendance as well as guests from embassies of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

and

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

with writer delegates from those countries as well as from

and

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. Delegates included minority communities representatives for Hungarians, Romanians and Slovaks.

was elected president and

Vladimir Nazor Vladimir Nazor (30 May 1876 – 19 June 1949) was a Croatian poet and politician. During and after World War II in Yugoslavia, he served as the first President of the Presidium of the Croatian Parliament (Croatian head of state), and first Sp ...

honorary president of the Association.'' * 2nd Congress,

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

PR Croatia The Socialist Republic of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Hrvatska, Социјалистичка Република Хрватска), or SR Croatia, was a constituent republic and federated state of the Sociali ...

(26-29 December 1949) :::''The event took place at the

Croatian Music Institute Croatian Music Institute ( hr, Hrvatski glazbeni zavod, HGZ) is the oldest music institution in Croatia. Also, after the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall, it is the second most important concert hall in Zagreb. It was founded in 1827 under title ...

building. The event was used as a platform to represent Yugoslav literary production and literature promotion and inter-Yugoslav exchange efforts since 1946.'' * 3rd Congress,

PR Slovenia The Socialist Republic of Slovenia ( sl, Socialistična republika Slovenija, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Slovenija, Социјалистичка Република Словенија), commonly referred to as Sociali ...

(1952) * 4th Congress,

Ohrid Ohrid ( mk, Охрид ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the List of cities in North Macedonia, eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording ...

PR Macedonia The Socialist Republic of Macedonia ( mk, Социјалистичка Република Македонија, Socijalistička Republika Makedonija), or SR Macedonia, commonly referred to as Socialist Macedonia or Yugoslav Macedonia, was ...

(15-17 September 1955) * 5th Congress,

PR Serbia , life_span = 1944–1992 , status = Constituent state of Yugoslavia , p1 = Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia , flag_p1 = Flag of German Reich (1935–1945).svg , p2 ...

(25-28 November 1958) * 6th Congress,

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

PR Bosnia and Herzegovina The Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Bosna i Hercegovina, Социјалистичка Pепублика Босна и Херцеговина), commonly referred to as Socia ...

(16-18 September 1961) * 7th Congress,

Titograd Podgorica (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Подгорица, ; Literal translation, lit. 'under the hill') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Montenegro, largest city of Montenegro. The city was formerly known as Titograd ...

PR Montenegro The Socialist Republic of Montenegro ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Crna Gora, Социјалистичка Република Црна Гора), commonly referred to as Socialist Montenegro or simply Montenegro, was ...

(24-26 September 1964) :::''The event was marked by four competing proposals for the substantial statutory reform of the association without shared agreement to accept any of them in full. The first proposal by the Serbian republican branch was introduced on 20 May 1964 recommending introduction of permanent executive secretariat and obligatory rotation in leadership among republican branches. Croatian proposal recommended that seat of the association should be rotated every three years instead of permanent location in Belgrade and accepted the idea on the rotation of leadership together with seat rotation. Slovenian proposal recommended that since organisation formally started to function as a coordination it's bodies should consist of delegated members of republican branches instead of elected independent representatives or secretariat. The last proposal was introduced by

Dobrica Ćosić Dobrica Ćosić ( sr, Добрица Ћосић, ; 29 December 1921 – 18 May 2014) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician, writer, and political theorist. Ćosić was twice awarded the prestigious NIN award for literature and Medal of Pushkin f ...

with independent group of writers which included

Antonije Isaković Antonije Isaković (Serbian Cyrillic: Антоније Исаковић; 6 November 1923 – 13 January 2002) was a Serbian writer and member of the Serbian Academy of Science and Arts. He won the NIN Prize in 1982 for his novel ''Tren 2''. He ...

Oskar Davičo Oskar Davičo ( sr-cyr, Оскар Давичо; 18 January 1909 — 30 September 1989) was a Serbian and Yugoslavian novelist and poet. A leading literary figure of his generation, he was one of the most acclaimed Serbian surrealist writers, but ...

Aleksandar Tišma Aleksandar Tišma ( sr-cyr, Александар Тишма; 16 January 1924 – 15 February 2003) was a Serbian novelist. Biography Tišma was born in Horgoš, Kanjiža on the present-day border of Serbia and Hungary, to a Serbian father and a ...

and others recommending introduction of new type of organisation in parallel with territorial principle in which writers would cooperate on the level of Yugoslavia based on their specific interests and affinities. The Congress decided to take all of the proposals for further analysis.'' * Extraordinary Congress, Belgrade,

SR Serbia , life_span = 1944–1992 , status = Constituent state of Yugoslavia , p1 = Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia , flag_p1 = Flag of German Reich (1935–1945).svg , p2 ...

(21-22 December 1965) * 8th Congress, Belgrade, SR Serbia (2-4 October 1975) * 9th Congress,

SAP Vojvodina The Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina ( sh, / ) was one of two autonomous provinces within the Socialist Republic of Serbia, in the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The province is the direct predecessor to the moder ...

, SR Serbia (15-20 April 1985) * ''10th Congress,

Vrnjačka Banja Vrnjačka Banja ( sr-cyr, Врњачка Бања) is a town and municipality located in the Raška District of central Serbia. The population of the town is 10,065 inhabitants, while the population of the municipality is 27,527 inhabitants. Vrnja ...

, SR Serbia (9-11 January 1990, CANCELLED ahead after Slovenian, Croatian, Kosovo and Macedonian branches refused to attend)''

Presidents

(1946-1952) *

Josip Vidmar Josip Vidmar (October 14, 1895 – April 11, 1992) was a notable Slovenian literary critic, essayist, and politician. From 1944 to 1946 he was speaker of the Slovenian People's Liberation Council (Slovenian Parliament). From 1952 to 1976 was pre ...

1952-1958) *

Miroslav Krleža Miroslav Krleža (; 7 July 1893 – 29 December 1981) 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 (''Ba ...

(1958-1961) *

Blaže Koneski Blaže Koneski ( mk, Блаже Конески; 19 December 1921 – 7 December 1993) was a Macedonian poet, writer, literary translator, and linguistic scholar. His major contribution was to the codification of standard Macedonian. He is the k ...

(1961-1964) *

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 ...

(1964-1965) *

Matej Bor Matej Bor was the pen name of Vladimir Pavšič (14 April 1913 – 29 September 1993), who was a Slovene poet, translator, playwright, journalist, and Partisan. Biography Matej Bor was born as Vladimir Pavšič in the village of Grgar near Gori ...

(1965-1968) *

Aco Šopov Aco Šopov ( mk, Ацо Шопов ; 1923 in Štip – 1982 in Skopje) was a Macedonian poet. He was considered one of the most important poets of Yugoslavia. He took part in World War II in Yugoslavia (1941–45) and his poems written at the ti ...

(1968-1970) *

Ivo Frangeš Ivo is a masculine given name, in use in various European languages. The name used in western European languages originates as a Normannic name recorded since the High Middle Ages, and the French name Yves is a variant of it. The unrelated So ...

(1970-1972) *

Gustav Krklec Gustav Krklec (23 June 1899 – 30 October 1977) was a Croatian writer and translator. Krklec was born in 1899 in Udbinja near Karlovac. In 1900, he moved with his family to Maruševec, a village near Varaždin. He studied in Vienna and Zagre ...

(1975-1977) ** '' Tomislav Ketig acting on behalf (1975-1978)'' * Otto Tolnai (1990, the last president)

References

{{Association of Writers of Yugoslavia * Serbian literature Cultural history of Serbia Serbian writers' organizations Croatian literature Cultural history of Croatia Bosnia and Herzegovina literature Cultural history of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina writers' organizations Macedonian literature Cultural history of North Macedonia Macedonian writers' organizations Slovenian literature Cultural history of Slovenia Slovenian writers' organizations Montenegrin literature Cultural history of Montenegro Kosovan literature Cultural history of Kosovo Writers' organizations 20th century in Belgrade Yugoslav culture 1946 establishments in Yugoslavia 1990 disestablishments in Yugoslavia Arts organizations established in 1946 Arts organizations disestablished in the 20th century

History

Congresses

Presidents

See also

References