Dejan Stojanović ( sr, Дејан Стојановић, ; born 11 March 1959) is a
Serbian poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...
, writer,
essayist
An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal ...
,
philosopher, businessman, and former journalist. His poetry is characterized by a recognizable system of thought and poetic devices, bordering on philosophy, and, overall, it has a highly reflective tone. According to the critic Petar V. Arbutina, "Stojanović belongs to the small and autochthonous circle of poets who have been the main creative and artistic force of the Serbian poetry in the last several decades."
Early life
Dejan Stojanović was born on 11 March 1959 in
Peć
Peja ( Indefinite Albanian form: ''Pejë'' ) or Peć ( sr-Cyrl, Пећ ) is the fourth largest city of Kosovo and seat of Peja Municipality and Peja District. It is situated in the region of Rugova on the eastern section of the Accursed Moun ...
,
Autonomous District of Kosovo and Metohija,
PR Serbia
, life_span = 1944–1992
, status = Constituent state of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia
, p1 = Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia
, flag_p1 = Fla ...
,
FPR 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 Yu ...
. In 1972, he moved with his family to
Sutomore, near
Bar, Montenegro, where he completed his secondary education. He attended the
University of Pristina
The University of Pristina ( sq, Universiteti i Prishtinës) is a public university located in Pristina, Kosovo. It is the institution that emerged after the disestablishment of the University of Pristina (1969–99) as a result of the ...
at
Kosovo
Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...
. While he was predominantly interested in philosophy and the arts during his youth, he earned a degree in law.
Writing background
Poetry
He began to write poetry in the late seventies and kept his work private for three to four years, after which he published his poems in literary magazines in the former
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
. Serbian magazines in which his work was published include ''
Stremljenja'' (English translation: ''Trends'') and ''
Jedinstvo'' (English translation: ''Unity'')
in
Priština
Pristina, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians a ...
, and ''Gradina''
in
Niš
Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names in other languages) is the third largest city in Serbia and the administrative center of the Nišava District. It is located in southern part of Serbia. , the city proper has a population of 183,164, while ...
. By 1983, he became a member of a literary club (Karagač) in his hometown of Peć. During this time, he was named as the secretary and later promoted to president of the club. In this role, he conducted interviews with some local artists from Kosovo.
In his early adulthood, Stojanović developed a philosophical system of ideas that dealt primarily with metaphysical questions and the structure of the Universe. He wrote several hundred pages in his notebooks exploring these ideas, along with essays on language and literature. In 1999, these manuscripts, along with his library of more than a thousand books (carefully chosen for years), were lost due to fire shortly after the war in Kosovo ended.
His books, along with his manuscripts, were held temporarily in his brother's office in the center of downtown Peć.
Publishing
In 1990, Stojanović established a private publishing firm known as Metoh (English translation: the church's land).
While the organization was located in Peć, the firm planned to publish a literary magazine in Kosovo. The firm's staff included writers from Belgrade, one of whom was Alek Vukadinović, a Serbian poet who supported Stojanović's plan to publish a magazine. While Stojanović's first book of poetry, ''Krugovanje'' (English translation: ''Circling'') was ready for publication in 1983, it was not published until 1993. During those ten years, several poems that were initially planned for inclusion in the book had been replaced by newer poems, which had been written between 1983 and 1986. The last poem in the book had actually been written in Chicago, in 1991.
Journalism
In early 1990, Stojanović joined the writing staff of Serbian magazine, ''
Pogledi
''Pogledi'' (Serbian Cyrillic: ''Погледи'', meaning Viewpoints in English) was a Serbia-based magazine devoted to politics and history, published biweekly.''Pogledi'', issue number 70, November 9–23, 1990. YU ISSN 0353-3832 ''Pogledi'' was ...
'' (English translation: ''Viewpoints''). At this time, he began a series of interviews with several Serbian writers in Belgrade, including
Momo Kapor
Momčilo "Momo" Kapor ( sr-cyr, Момчило Момо Капор; 8 April 1937 – 3 March 2010) was a Serbian novelist and painter.
He authored several screenplays, over forty novels, short stories, travel and autobiographic books and essays. H ...
, Alek Vukadinović, and
Nikola Milošević. During his second visit to Paris in May and June 1990, he interviewed
Ljuba Popović Ljuba may refer to:
* Ljuba (given name), a Slavic given name
* Ljuba, Serbia, a village in Syrmia, Vojvodina
* 1062 Ljuba
1062 Ljuba, provisional designation , is a carbonaceous background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, a ...
,
Petar Omčikus
Petar Omčikus (french: Pierre Omcikous; sr-Cyrl, Петар Омчикус), Sušak, 6 October 1926 – 26 April 2019) was a Serbian painter and member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, who lived and worked in Paris, France.
Bio ...
, Miloš Šobajić, and Jacques Claude Villard.
In December 1990, he went to the US as a
foreign correspondent, planning to stay six months to a year. During this time, he conducted interviews with prominent American writers, including
Nobel Laureate Saul Bellow
Saul Bellow (born Solomon Bellows; 10 July 1915 – 5 April 2005) was a Canadian-born American writer. For his literary work, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the National Medal of Arts. He is the only w ...
,
Charles Simic
Dušan Simić ( sr-cyr, Душан Симић, ; born May 9, 1938), known as Charles Simic, is a Serbian American poet and former co-poetry editor of the ''Paris Review''. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1990 for ''The World Doesn' ...
, and
Steve Tesich. He did not return to his homeland in summer 1991, when the
Yugoslav Wars
The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and insurgencies that took place in the SFR Yugoslavia from 1991 to 2001. The conflicts both led up to and resulted from ...
started in the former
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
, and has been living in Chicago since 1990.
[ In honor of his series of interviews published in ''Conversations'', published in 1999 by ]Književna reč
''Književna reč'' was a literary magazine that was published first in Yugoslavia, and then in Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Eur ...
of Belgrade, Stojanović received the Rastko Petrović Award, presented by 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 ...
.
Style
Stojanović’s poetry collections are characterized by sequences of compact, dense poems, simple yet complex in carefully organized overall structure, and that is why some more visibly than others appear as long poems. This is especially characteristic of the books, ''The Sign and its Children,'' ''The Shape'', and ''The Creator'' (''Znak I njegova deca'', ''Oblik,'' ''Tvoritelj'' ), in which, with a relatively small number of words repeated in different contexts, Stojanović built his own poetic cosmogony. For that reason, writer and critic, David Kecman, described him as a ''cosmosophist.''
In his poems, he covers the smallest and the largest topics with equal attention, often juxtaposing them to the level of paradox and absurdity, gradually building new perspectives and meanings that are not only poetic either in origin or in purpose. Some themes and preoccupations, be they stones or galaxies, are present in all of his books and it can be said that his poetry books are, in themselves, long poems and that all of them serve as ingredients of a hyper-poetry book that is still in the making.
He used many poetic forms never used before in Serbian poetry and also created some new forms. "If elegance is represented by simplicity, then these are some of the most elegant verses imaginable," Branko Mikasinovich
Branko Mikasinovich (born November 6, 1938) is a Serbian American scholar of Yugoslav and Serbian literature, as well as a noted Slavist. Much of Croatian literature accessible in English are credited to him.
Education and career
Mikasinovich ...
stated.
Published works
The majority of Stojanović's poems, initially written in Serbian and compiled into six volumes of poetry, have been translated into English [''The Creator,'' 63 poems, nine sequences: "The Light-Bearer," "Forest of the Universe," "A Talk of Fire," "The Whisper of Eternity," "A Smiling Sky," "Thought and Flight," "Same and Change," "The Dream Chamber," "Nostalgic Elements."] and a selection of his poems has been translated into French.
;Poetry
* (1993) ''Krugovanje: 1978–1987''; English translation: ''Circling: 1978–1987'', Pub: Narodna knjiga, Alpha University, Belgrade
* (1998) ''Krugovanje'' – 2nd edition; English translation: ''Circling: 1978–1987'' – 2nd edition, Pub: Narodna knjiga, Alpha University, Belgrade
* (1999) ''Sunce sebe gleda''; English translation: ''The Sun Watches the Sun'', Pub: Književna reč
''Književna reč'' was a literary magazine that was published first in Yugoslavia, and then in Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Eur ...
, Belgrade
* (2000) ''Znak i njegova deca''; English translation: ''The Sign and its Children'', Pub: Prosveta, Belgrade
* (2000) ''Oblik''; English translation: ''The Shape'', Pub: Gramatik, Podgorica; republished in English by New Avenue Books (14 July 2012)
* (2000) ''Tvoritelj'', English translation: ''The Creator'', Pub: Narodna knjiga, Alpha University, Belgrade
* (2000) ''Krugovanje'' – 3rd edition; English translation: ''Circling'' – 3rd edition, Pub: Narodna knjiga, Alpha University, Belgrade
* (2007) ''Ples vremena''; English translation: ''Dance of Time'', Pub: Konras, Belgrade
;Interviews
* (1999) ''Conversations'', Pub: Književna reč
''Književna reč'' was a literary magazine that was published first in Yugoslavia, and then in Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Eur ...
, Belgrade
;English translations from Serbian
* (21 May 2012) '' Circling: 1978-1987'', Pub: New Avenue Books. ASIN B0089VHNCA (ebook)
* (13 June 2012) ''The Sun Watches the Sun'', Pub: New Avenue Books. ASIN B008BCY988 (ebook)
* (17 June 2012) '' The Creator'', Pub: New Avenue Books. ASIN B008CCH646 (ebook)
* (11 July 2012) '' The Sign and Its Children'', Pub: New Avenue Books. ASIN B008KFP1WY (ebook)
* (14 July 2012) '' The Shape'', Pub: New Avenue Books. ASIN B008LGAFUK (ebook)
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stojanovic, Dejan
1959 births
Living people
Serbian journalists
Serbian emigrants to the United States
Kosovo Serbs
Serbs of Montenegro
Montenegrin poets
Montenegrin male writers
Serbian male poets
Writers from Chicago
20th-century Serbian philosophers
Businesspeople from Peja