Lana Bastašić ( sr-Cyrl, Лана Басташић; born 27 August 1986) is a Bosnian and Serbian writer, novelist and translator. She was born in Zagreb,

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

Biography

She 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 ...

to a Serbian family in 1986 and immigrated to Banja Luka, Bosnia-Herzegovina as a young child. She studied English at the

University of Banja Luka The University of Banja Luka ( sr, Универзитет у Бањој Луци, Univerzitet u Banjoj Luci, bs, Univerzitet u Banjoj Luci, hr, Sveučilište u Banjoj Luci, lat, Universitas Bania Lucensis) is the second-oldest university in Bosn ...

and received an MA in Cultural Studies from 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 ...

. In addition to novels, Bastašić has written in many different genres: short stories, children’s stories, poetry, and stage plays. Her debut novel ''Catch the Rabbit'' ('' sr, Uhvati zeca'') was published in Belgrade in 2018, and then reprinted in Sarajevo. The structure of the book draws inspiration from

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland), Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a ...

with themes of exile, identity, and is divided into twelve chapters, as is Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. It won the 2020

EU Prize for Literature The European Union Prize for Literature (EUPL), established in 2009, is a European Union literary award. Its aim is to recognise outstanding new literary talents from all over Europe, to promote the circulation and translation of literature among ...

and was shortlisted for 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 ...

. It was translated into English by Bastašić herself and published by

Picador A ''picador'' (; pl. ''picadores'') is one of the pair of horse-mounted bullfighters in a Spanish-style bullfight that jab the bull with a lance. They perform in the ''tercio de varas'', which is the first of the three stages in a stylized bullf ...

in the UK and

Restless Books Restless Books is an independent, non-profit publisher located in Brooklyn, New York. Restless publishes "international works of fiction, journalism, memoirs, travel writing, and illustrated books." The press published 15-20 titles a year, includ ...

in the US. In 2017, Bastašić has 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 ...

. She currently resides in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Bibliography

Short story collections

* Permanent Pigments (''Trajni pigmenti''), 2010. * Fireworks (''Vatrometi''), 2013 * Milk Teeth (''Mliječni zubi''), 2020.

Novels

* Catch the Rabbit (''Uhvati zeca)'', 2021.

References

Bosnia and Herzegovina women writers 1986 births Living people Writers from Zagreb Serbs of Croatia Signatories of the Declaration on the Common Language {{BosniaHerzegovina-writer-stub