Daša Drndić (10 August 1946 – 5 June 2018) was a

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

n writer. She studied English language and literature at the

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 ...

.Profile
, fraktura.hr; accessed 6 June 2018.

Life and career

Drndić was born in

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 ...

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

in 1947 into a middle-class family. Her father, a former

partisan Partisan may refer to: Military * Partisan (weapon), a pole weapon * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line Films * ''Partisan'' (film), a 2015 Australian film * ''Hell River'', a 1974 Yugoslavian film also know ...

, was a diplomat working in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

and her mother worked as a

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

. Drndić grew up in both

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

and

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 ...

, with her father eventually moving the family to

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 ...

. At

, Drndić studied

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and writing, written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defin ...

. She then obtained a master's degree in theatre and communications from

Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of Tr ...

in the United States, which she attended with the aid of a

Fulbright scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

. She studied at

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Reser ...

. In the early 1990s, she moved from

to Rijeka, and obtained her doctorate at the

University of Rijeka The University of Rijeka ( hr, Sveučilište u Rijeci) is in the city of Rijeka, Croatia, with faculties in cities throughout the regions of Primorje, Istria and Lika. The University of Rijeka is composed of eleven faculties, one art academy, ...

, where she later taught. She worked for many years in the drama department of

Radio Belgrade Radio Belgrade ( sr, Радио Београд, ) is a state-owned and operated radio station in Belgrade, Serbia. It has four different programs (Radio Belgrade 1, Radio Belgrade 2, Radio Belgrade 3, and Radio Belgrade 202), a precious archive o ...

, writing and producing numerous radio plays during that time. She also worked in publishing. In 2017, she signed the

Declaration on the Common Language The Declaration on the Common Language ( sh, Deklaracija o zajedničkom jeziku / ) was issued in 2017 by a group of intellectuals and NGOs from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia who were working under the banner of a project ...

of the

Croats The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, G ...

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

Bosniaks The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry ...

and

Montenegrins Montenegrins ( cnr, Црногорци, Crnogorci, or ; lit. "Black Mountain People") are a South Slavic ethnic group that share a common Montenegrin culture, history, and language, identified with the country of Montenegro. Genetics Accordin ...

Books

The author of a number of books, Drndić is best known for her award-winning novel ''Sonnenschein'' (2007), translated into English as ''Trieste'' (2012). It was nominated for the

Independent Foreign Fiction Prize The ''Independent'' Foreign Fiction Prize (1990–2015) was a British literary award. It was inaugurated by British newspaper ''The Independent'' to honour contemporary fiction in translation in the United Kingdom. The award was first launched i ...

. An earlier novel, ''Leica format'', was translated by Celia Hawkesworth and published by MacLehose Press in 2015. In 2017, her penultimate novel, ''Belladonna'', was published in English by MacLehose Press and New Directions Publishing (also translated by Hawkesworth). An English translation by Hawkesworth and Susan Curtis of Drndić's earlier work ''Doppelgänger'' was published in Great Britain by

Istros Books Istros books is a London-based independent publisher of writers from South-East Europe and the Balkans, in English translation. It was set up in 2011 by Susan Curtis. Publications Notable publications include: *''Doppelgänger'' by Daša Drndić ...

in 2018, and in the United States by New Directions in 2019. Her last book, ''EEG'', translated into English by Celia Hawkesworth, was published by MacLehose Press in the UK and New Directions in the US in 2019. ''EEG'' won the

Best Translated Book Award The Best Translated Book Award is an American literary award that recognizes the previous year's best original translation into English, one book of poetry and one of fiction. It was inaugurated in 2008 and is conferred by Three Percent, the onlin ...

in 2020.

Death

Drndić died on 5 June 2018 in

Rijeka Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...

, aged 71, after a two-year battle with cancer.

Selected works

* ''Put do subote'' (1982). ''Way to Saturday.'' * ''Kamen s neba'' (1984). ''Stone from Heaven.'' * ''Marija Częstohowska još uvijek roni suze ili Umiranje u Torontu'' (1997). ''Maria Częstohowska Still Shedding Tears or Dying in Toronto.'' * ''Canzone di guerra'' (1998). ''Battle Songs'', trans. Celia Hawkesworth (Istros Books, 2022; New Directions, 2023). * ''Totenwande'' (2000). * ''Doppelgänger'' (2002). Trans. S.D. Curtis and Celia Hawkesworth (Istros Books/New Directions, 2019). * ''Leica format'' (2003). Trans. Celia Hawkesworth (MacLehose Press, 2015). * ''Sonnenschein'' (2007). ''Trieste'', trans.

Ellen Elias-Bursać Ellen Elias-Bursać (born 1952) is an American scholar and literary translator. Specializing in South Slavic literature, she has translated numerous works from Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian. Early life Ellen Elias was born in Cambridge, Massa ...

(MacLehose Press/Harcourt, 2012). * ''April u Berlinu'' (2009). ''April in Berlin''. * ''Belladonna'' (2012). Trans. Celia Hawkesworth (MacLehose Press/New Directions, 2017). * ''EEG'' (2016). Trans. Celia Hawkesworth (MacLehose Press/New Directions, 2019).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drndic, Dasa 1946 births 2018 deaths Deaths from cancer in Croatia Writers from Zagreb Croatian novelists Croatian women writers University of Belgrade alumni University of Rijeka alumni Southern Illinois University alumni Signatories of the Declaration on the Common Language Academic staff of the University of Rijeka