Muharem Bazdulj (; born 19 May 1977) is a Bosnian and Serbian writer and journalist. His work of historical fiction ''Byron and the Beauty'' has been translated into English by John K Cox.

Biography

He was born on 19 May 1977 in

Travnik Travnik is a town and a municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the administrative center of Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in central Bosnia and Herzegovina, west of Sarajevo. As of 201 ...

, he graduated and obtained his master's degree in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

and

American literature American literature is literature written or produced in the United States of America and in the colonies that preceded it. The American literary tradition thus is part of the broader tradition of English-language literature, but also inc ...

at the

Faculty of Philosophy A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In American usage such divisions are generally referred to as colleges ...

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 ...

. His mother is Nura Bazdulj-Hubijar, popular writer, and father Dr. Salih Bazdulj, both award-winning literary authors from Travnik. Muharem Bazdulj publishes literary and journalistic texts in many magazines and newspapers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and the region. His books have been translated and published in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, English and

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

, and his stories and essays in a dozen other languages. All of his works are written in

Serbian language Serbian (, ) is the standardized variety of the Serbo-Croatian language mainly used by Serbs. It is the official and national language of Serbia, one of the three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina and co-official in Montenegro and Kos ...

. By January 2018, he had published seven novels, five books of stories, three books of columns, two books of essays, and one book of sonnets. Muharem Bazdulj's writing is highly esteemed in BiH and Serbia. In 2014, he won the two highest Serbian journalistic awards: the Danas award "Stanislav Staša Marinković", which is awarded for journalistic courage and special achievements in investigative and analytical journalism, and the "

Bogdan Tirnanić Bogdan Tirnanić ( Serbian Cyrillic: ''Богдан Тирнанић'') (September 14, 1941 – January 16, 2009) was one of the most prominent Serbian journalists, essayists and movie critics. He was born in Belgrade, Serbia. He wrote columns ...

" award of the Association of Journalists of Serbia, for best column or comment. Before that, in 2013, he received the award of the Association of Journalists of BiH for "the best journalist in the category of print media". Until 2009, he was a journalist for the BH Dani magazine, and until 2012, he was the deputy editor-in-chief of the Sarajevo daily

Oslobođenje ''Oslobođenje'' (; 'Liberation') is a daily newspaper in Bosnia and Herzegovina based in the capital city Sarajevo. Founded on 30 August 1943, in the midst of World War II, on a patch of territory liberated by Partisans, in what was otherwise a ...

. He has been living and working in Serbia since 2012. He is a citizen of Serbia. In 2016, as a sign of personal protest, he left the editorial office of the

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 ...

magazine

Vreme ''Vreme'' ( Serbian for ''Time'') is a weekly news magazine based in Belgrade, Serbia. History Launch In 1990, dissatisfied with the media climate in SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia's largest constituent unit, a group of liberal Serbian intellectuals, ...

, in which he had been publishing since 2003. He has criticized

Balkan The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

liberal circles for "promoting

Anti-Serb Anti-Serb sentiment or Serbophobia ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, србофобија, srbofobija, separator=" / ") is a generally negative view of Serbs as an ethnic group. Historically it has been a basis for the persecution of ethnic Serbs. A distinctiv ...

views". In May 2021, Bazdulj was recorded partying with

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

laureate

Peter Handke Peter Handke (; born 6 December 1942) is an Austrian novelist, playwright, translator, poet, film director, and screenwriter. He was awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Literature "for an influential work that with linguistic ingenuity has explored t ...

and two-time

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

winner

Emir Kusturica Emir Kusturica ( sr-cyrl, Емир Кустурица; born 24 November 1954) is a Serbian film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and musician. He also has French citizenship.http://www.serbia.com/emir-kusturica-artist-builder-and-anti-glo ...

in the Bosnian town of

Višegrad Višegrad ( sr-cyrl, Вишеград, ) is a town and municipality located in eastern Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It rests at the confluence of the Drina and the Rzav river. As of 2013, it has a population of 10,668 ...

for which he was roundly condemned in his native Bosnia and Herzegovina, owing to the perceived Serb nationalist sympathies of his associates and accusations of their having engaged in

Bosnian Genocide The Bosnian genocide ( bs, bosanski genocid) refers to either the Srebrenica massacre or the wider crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing campaign throughout areas controlled by the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) during the Bosnian War of ...

denial. In July 2021, Bazdulj was elected member of the Executive Board of the

Radio Television of Serbia Radio Television of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl, Радио-телевизија Србије, sr-Lat, Radio-televizija Srbije, italics=yes; abbr. RTS/PTC) is Serbia's public broadcaster. It broadcasts and produces news, drama, and sports programming thro ...

(RTS). He is married and has one child. As of 2022, he has contributed to Serbian branch of RT, a Russian state-owned propaganda network.

Bibliography

* ''One Like a Song (stories)'' * ''Second book (stories)'' * ''Concert (novel)'' * ''Jaur and Zulejha (novel)'' * ''Jobs and Days (essays)'' * ''Heroes (sonnets)'' * ''Transit, Comet, Eclipse (novel)'' * ''Magic (stories)'' * ''Filigree Sidewalks'' * ''Sowing Salt (novel)'' * ''April on Vlašić (novel)'' * ''Little Window (novel)'' * ''And Others / They Sang About the War (essays)'' * ''Heresy of Nominalism'' * ''Marzipan Doll (novel)'' * ''Travnik Trinity (stories)'' * ''Karlovac Peace'' * ''From Time to Time'' * ''The Last Man''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bazdulj, Muharem Bosnia and Herzegovina male writers 1977 births Living people Serbian writers Naturalized citizens of Serbia Serbian people of Bosnia and Herzegovina descent Bosniaks of Serbia Bosnia and Herzegovina emigrants to Serbia