Acija Alfirević (born 12 August 1951) is a Croatian theatre scholar. He has more than 200 published works and has held professorships in multiple countries around the world. Her published works include a book about

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A List of Nobel laureates in Literature, Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramat ...

and one on Australian drama.

Biography

Acija Alfirević was born in

Split, Croatia Split (, ), historically known as Spalato (; ; see #Name, other names), is the List of cities and towns in Croatia, second-largest city of Croatia after the capital Zagreb, the largest city in Dalmatia and the largest city on the Croatian coast ...

on 12 August 1951. She studied languages, literature and philosophy at

University of Zadar The University of Zadar (, ) is a public university located in Zadar, Croatia. The university in its present form was founded in 2002, but can trace its lineage to 1396, thus making it the oldest higher education institution in Croatia, and one ...

then at

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb (, ) is a public university, public research university in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the largest Croatian university and one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe. The University of Zagreb and the Unive ...

, graduating in 1976. Alfirević then attended

Richmond upon Thames College Richmond upon Thames College is a large college of further and higher education located on a single site in Twickenham. It provides education and training to 16- to 18-year-olds and adults from across the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames a ...

and

South Thames Colleges Group South Thames Colleges Group (STCG) is a large further education institution that operates four colleges in south-west London: South Thames College, Kingston College, Merton College, and Carshalton College. The four main campuses are in Wandswort ...

to study English, followed by East European Studies at

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. In 1982-5 Alfirević was granted a

Fulbright Program The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

scholarship by the

State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY ) is a system of Public education, public colleges and universities in the New York (state), State of New York. It is one of the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, larges ...

as a researcher professor in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures. She returned to Zagreb to study for a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in Australian theatre in 1996, before finally receiving her PhD in 2017 with her thesis on

. Alfirević worked as a professor during her studies, with placements in London,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, Zagreb,

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Budapest,

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

. She has more than 200 published works, including her translations of other Croatian works. In 2023, Alfirević won the Demetar's Lifetime Achievement award from the Croatian Society of Theatre Critics and Theatre Scholars.

Works

Alfirević's books include "''Harold Pinter's Theatre of Cruelty",'' a book regarded as a homage to

. ''The Australian New Wave,'' which focusses on Australian drama between the 1960s and 1990s. Her poetry has been published in multiple anthologies of Croatian Love Poetry.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alfirevic, Acija 1951 births Living people Writers from Split, Croatia Croatian feminists Croatian translators People associated with the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies Literary translators