Maja Novak (born 23 April 1960) is a Slovenian writer, translator and journalist.
Born in the industrial town of
Jesenice, she grew up in
Nova Gorica, a
planned town on the
Yugoslav-
Italian border. She studied business law at the
University of Ljubljana and worked as business secretary in
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
before settling 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 ...
, where she works as a journalist.
She started publishing short stories in the early 1990s. She has published four novels: ''Izza kongresa, ali umor v teritorialnih vodah'' (Behind the Congress, or Murder in Territorial Waters, 1993), ''Cimre'' (Roommates, 1995), ''Kafarnaum'' (Capernaum, 1998), and ''Mačja kuga'' (The Feline Plague, 2000), as well as the collection of short prose ''Zverinjad'' (Wild Beasts, 1996) and three books for children.
Her novel ''Mačja kuga'' (The Feline Plague) has been praised as a literary masterpiece.
She has translated authors from French (such as
Gaston Leroux), Italian (such as
Alessandro Baricco,
Susanna Tamaro
Susanna Tamaro (; born 12 December 1957) is an Italian novelist and film director. She is an author of novels, stories, magazine articles, and children's literature. Her novel ''Va' dove ti porta il cuore'' (''Follow your Heart'') was a bestseller ...
, and
Giacomo Casanova), Serbian (such as
Vladimir Arsenijević
Vladimir Arsenijević ( sr-cyr, Владимир Арсенијевић, born 1965) is a Serbian novelist, columnist, translator, editor, musician, and publisher. He lives and works in Belgrade. Arsenijević won the prestigious NIN Award for the Y ...
), and English (such as
Helen Fielding
Helen Fielding (born 19 February 1958) is an English novelist and screenwriter, best known as the creator of the fictional character Bridget Jones, and a sequence of novels and films beginning with the life of a thirty something singleton in Lo ...
,
Alain de Botton
Alain de Botton (; born 20 December 1969) is a Swiss-born British author and philosopher. His books discuss various contemporary subjects and themes, emphasizing philosophy's relevance to everyday life. He published ''Essays in Love'' (1993), w ...
, and
Terry Pratchett).
She writes a regular op-ed column in the weekly left-wing current affairs magazine ''
Mladina''.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Novak, Maja
Slovenian writers
Slovenian translators
People from Nova Gorica
Living people
1960 births
University of Ljubljana alumni