Goran Vojnović (born 11 June 1980) is a Slovenian writer, poet, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his 2008 novel ''Southern Scum Go Home'' ( sl, Čefurji raus!) which won him numerous awards as well as a

lawsuit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

filed by the

Slovenian Police The Slovenian National Police Force is the national government agency that handles the responsibility of law enforcement of the Republic of Slovenia. It is composed of the eight police directorates in Celje, Koper, Kranj, Ljubljana, Maribor, Mur ...

that was withdrawn a day later after media attention and public outrage at police filing charges for a work of fiction brought embarrassment to the Slovenian Ministry of Interior. Vojnović was born 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 ...

to a family of mixed Bosnian and

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

descent. He studied at the

Academy for Theatre, Radio, Film and Television The Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television ( sl, Akademija za gledališče, radio, film in televizijo or AGRFT) is an academy of the University of Ljubljana in Ljubljana, Slovenia. It is the only college and graduate school in Slovenia with ...

. He published his first collection of poetry ''Lep je ta svet'' in 1998. His novel ''Čefurji raus!'' started out as an unfinished film script. It describes life of immigrant youth in the Fužine estate in Ljubljana, their everyday problems and cultural differences between locals and immigrants from the

former 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 ...

. For it he won the Prešeren Foundation Award and the

Kresnik Award Kresnik is a literary award in Slovenia awarded each year for the best novel in Slovene of the previous year. It has been bestowed since 1991 at summer solstice by the national newspaper house Delo. The awards ceremony is normally held on Rožni ...

in 2009. It has been translated and published in Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian,

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

, Romanian and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

and excerpts translated into German and English. His novel ''Jugoslavija, moja dežela'' (Yugoslavia, My Fatherland) was published in 2011 by Beletrina. The English translation was published in 2015 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 the UK. His third novel ''Figa'' (The Fig Tree) was translated into English by Istros Books in 2020.

Published works

* ''Lep je ta svet'',

self-published Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to written media, such as books and magazines, either as an ebook or as a physical copy using POD (pri ...

poetry collection (1998) * ''Čefurji raus!'' (Southern Scum Go Home!), novel (2008) * ''Jugoslavija, moja dežela'' (Yugoslavia, My Fatherland), novel (2013) * ''Figa'' (The Fig Tree ), novel (2016)Publisher's site, Beletrina
/ref>

Works Translated into English

*
Yugoslavia, My Fatherland
' (Istros Books, London, 2015) * ''The Fig Tree'' (Istros Books, London, 2020)

References

External links

Author's page
on Istros Books' website (UK publisher)

at

Eurochannel Eurochannel is a world television channel focused on European culture and lifestyle through movies, series and other programs dedicated to European culture. Eurochannel broadcasts in original audio with subtitles in English, Spanish and Portugue ...

Author's page
on Belatrina's website (Slovenian publisher) {{DEFAULTSORT:Vojnovic, Goran Writers from Ljubljana Living people Slovenian film directors Film people from Ljubljana 1980 births Kresnik Award laureates University of Ljubljana alumni Slovenian people of Bosnia and Herzegovina descent Slovenian people of Croatian descent