Lana Bastašić ( sr-Cyrl, Лана Басташић; born 27 August 1986) is a Bosnian and Serbian writer, novelist and translator. 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, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

SR Croatia The Socialist Republic of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Hrvatska, Социјалистичка Република Хрватска), commonly abbreviated as SR Croatia and referred to as simply Croatia, was a ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

(today

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 ...

Early life and education

She was born in

to a

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular **Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans ** Serbian language ** Serbian culture **Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...

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

University of Banja Luka The University of Banja Luka (, , , ) is the second-oldest university in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A public university, it is the flagship institution of higher education in Republika Srpska, one of two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of th ...

and received an MA in Cultural Studies from 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 ...

Career

Bastašić's debut novel '' Catch the Rabbit'' (') 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'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of 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 (, 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 (magazine), ''NIN'' weekly and is given annua ...

. 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 bull ...

in the UK and

Restless Books Restless Books is an independent, non-profit publisher located in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was founded in 2013 and was based in Brooklyn, New York until 2023. Restless publishes "international works of fiction, journalism, memoirs, travel writ ...

in the US. In 2017, Bastašić has 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 ...

. In addition to novels, Bastašić has written in many different genres: short stories, children’s stories, poetry, and stage plays. In an article published in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' in October 2023, Bastašić commented on the assessment of the Middle East conflict in Germany: " even the mention of the word “Palestine” in Germany risks getting you accused of Antisemitism. Any attempt at providing context and sharing facts on the historical background to the conflict is seen as crude justification of

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

’s terror. ..The stifling of opposition to the killing of civilians in Gaza even extends to Jewish people. ..Germany’s unwavering official support for the Israeli government’s actions leaves scant room for humanity. ..The white saviourist hypocrisy we are witnessing in Germany today will, in the long run, benefit white Germans only." In January 2024, Bastašić terminated her contract with German publisher S Fischer, accusing it of silence on the Gaza crisis and censoring pro-Palestinian voices in Germany. Later that month, she revealed on Instagram that she has been disinvited from an Austrian literature festival, the Literature Festival Salzburg. The festival organizers cited the ongoing discussion around her publisher departure, stating that her participation would imply a stance they wished to avoid.

Personal life

She currently resides in Berlin.

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