Daša Drndić (10 August 1946 – 5 June 2018) was a

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n writer. She studied English language and literature at the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade () is a public university, public research university in Belgrade, 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 me ...

.Profile
, fraktura.hr; accessed 6 June 2018.

Life and career

Drndić 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, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

in 1947 into a middle-class family. Her father, a former

partisan Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Ital ...

, was a diplomat working in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and her mother worked as a

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...

. Drndić grew up in both

and

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

, with her father eventually moving the family to

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

. At

, Drndić studied

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

. She then obtained a master's degree in theatre and communications from

Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of T ...

in the United States, which she attended with the aid of a

Fulbright scholarship 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 ...

. She studied at

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a Private university, private research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1967 by a merger between Western Reserve University and the Case Institute of Technology. Case ...

. In the early 1990s, she moved from

to Rijeka, and obtained her doctorate at the

University of Rijeka The University of Rijeka () is in the city of Rijeka, Croatia, with faculties in cities throughout the regions of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, Primorje, Istria and Lika. The University of Rijeka is composed of eleven faculties, one art academy ...

, where she later taught. She worked for many years in the drama department of

Radio Belgrade Radio Belgrade (, ) is a state-owned and operated radio station in Belgrade, Serbia. It has four different programs (Radio Belgrade 1, Radio Belgrade 2, Radio Belgrade 3, and Radio Belgrade 202), a precious archive of several hundreds of thousa ...

, writing and producing numerous radio plays during that time. She also worked in publishing. In 2017, she signed the

Declaration on the Common Language The Declaration on the Common Language ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Deklaracija o zajedničkom jeziku, Декларација о заједничком језику, separator=" / ") was issued in 2017 by a group of intellectuals and NGOs from Bosnia and He ...

of the

Croats The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...

Bosniaks The Bosniaks (, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia, today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and who sha ...

and

Montenegrins Montenegrins (, or ) are a South Slavic ethnic group that share a common ancestry, culture, history, and language, identified with the country of Montenegro. Montenegrins are mostly Orthodox Christians; however, the population also includes ...

Books

The author of a number of books, Drndić is best known for her award-winning novel ''Sonnenschein'' (2007), translated into English as ''Trieste'' (2012). It was nominated for the

Independent Foreign Fiction Prize The ''Independent'' Foreign Fiction Prize (1990–2015) was a British literary award. It was inaugurated by British newspaper ''The Independent'' to honour contemporary fiction in translation in the United Kingdom. The award was first launched i ...

. An earlier novel, ''Leica format'', was translated by Celia Hawkesworth and published by MacLehose Press in 2015. In 2017, her penultimate novel, ''Belladonna'', was published in English by MacLehose Press and New Directions Publishing (also translated by Hawkesworth). An English translation by Hawkesworth and Susan Curtis of Drndić's earlier work ''Doppelgänger'' was published in Great Britain 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 2018, and in the United States by New Directions in 2019. Her last book, ''EEG'', translated into English by Celia Hawkesworth, was published by MacLehose Press in the UK and New Directions in the US in 2019. ''EEG'' won the

Best Translated Book Award The Best Translated Book Award was an American literary award that recognized the previous year's best original translation into English, one book of poetry and one of fiction. It was inaugurated in 2008 and was conferred by Three Percent, the onl ...

in 2020.

Death

Drndić died on 5 June 2018 in

Rijeka Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...

, aged 71, after a two-year battle with cancer.

Selected works

* ''Put do subote'' (1982). ''Way to Saturday.'' * ''Kamen s neba'' (1984). ''Stone from Heaven.'' * ''Marija Częstohowska još uvijek roni suze ili Umiranje u Torontu'' (1997). ''Maria Częstohowska Still Shedding Tears or Dying in Toronto.'' * ''Canzone di guerra'' (1998). ''Battle Songs'', trans. Celia Hawkesworth (Istros Books, 2022; New Directions, 2023). * ''Totenwande'' (2000). * ''Doppelgänger'' (2002). Trans. S.D. Curtis and Celia Hawkesworth (Istros Books/New Directions, 2019). * ''Leica format'' (2003). Trans. Celia Hawkesworth (MacLehose Press, 2015). * ''Sonnenschein'' (2007). ''Trieste'', trans. Ellen Elias-Bursać (MacLehose Press/Harcourt, 2012). * ''April u Berlinu'' (2009). ''April in Berlin''. * ''Belladonna'' (2012). Trans. Celia Hawkesworth (MacLehose Press/New Directions, 2017). * ''EEG'' (2016). Trans. Celia Hawkesworth (MacLehose Press/New Directions, 2019).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drndic, Dasa 1946 births 2018 deaths Deaths from cancer in Croatia Writers from Zagreb Croatian novelists Croatian women writers University of Belgrade alumni University of Rijeka alumni Southern Illinois University alumni Signatories of the Declaration on the Common Language Academic staff of the University of Rijeka Burials at Kozala Cemetery