Prvoslav Vujcic ( sr-Cyrl, Првослав Вујчић, ; born 20 July 1960) is a
Serbian Canadian writer, poet, translator, columnist and
aphorist
An aphorism (from Greek ἀφορισμός: ''aphorismos'', denoting 'delimitation', 'distinction', and 'definition') is a concise, terse, laconic, or memorable expression of a general truth or principle. Aphorisms are often handed down by trad ...
.
He has been described as one of the most prominent writers of Serbian origin.
[''Migrating Memories: Central Europe in Canada Volume I – Literary Anthology''. CEACS. 2010. pp. 306–308. .]
Biography
Vujcic was born on 20 July 1960, in the
eastern Serbian city of
Požarevac
Požarevac ( sr-cyr, Пожаревац, ) is a list of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative centre of the Braničevo District in eastern Serbia. It is located between three rivers: Danube, Great Morava and Mlava and below the hill Čač ...
to father Jefrem (1932–1996) and mother Nadežda (1936–2015).
Growing up in the area known as
Burjan, he completed his elementary and secondary education,
graduating from the
Požarevac Gymnasium in 1979.
As a student, he won the Zmaj Award (awarded annually by the
Association of Writers of Serbia for the book of the year) for his collection of poetry titled ''Pesnik i pesma'' and the award was presented to him by
Desanka Maksimović.
Večernje novosti
''Večernje novosti'' ( sr-Cyrl, Вечерње новости; ''Evening News'') is a Serbian daily tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1953, it quickly grew into a high-circulation daily. ''Novosti'' (as most people call it for short) also employs ...
(31 March 2005). "Rodoljubive pesme, pg. 26" . In 1983, Vujcic wrote a book of poetry titled ''Razmišljanja jednog leša''. Although registered in the Yugoslav Authors Agency that same year, before publication it was banned by court order by the
Communist government
A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...
on the grounds that it was "morally and politically unsuitable for a socialist system and society."
In 2004, the book was published after more than two decades and includes three parts: File of Failures, Cremated Pavilion and Exhumation. In
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
, Vujcic was
jailed
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...
in
Tuzla
Tuzla (, , ) is the List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, third-largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the administrative center of Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 110,979 inha ...
for seven days (for reciting poems at a guest appearance in a
mine pit in Tuzla where he criticized the Communist government).
While jailed, he wrote his second book of poetry titled ''Kastriranje vetra'' which was also banned by the Communist government.
In 2005, the book was published also after more than two decades and the foreword was written by
Dragomir Brajković.
In January 1987, Vujcic moved to Canada.
[''The Canada Gazette: La Gazette du Canada'', Volume 123, Issue 1, Part 1 (in English & French). Queen's Printer. 1989.] During this period, Vujcic was a contributor to Serbian magazine ''
Pogledi''.
In 1999, he was one of the organizers of the Toronto-based
demonstrations against the
bombing
A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...
of
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 ...
which, in terms of the
Serbian diaspora, lasted all 78 days only in Toronto.
[''U čast pisaca iz rasejanja'' (in Serbian). Ministry of Diaspora of the Republic of Serbia. 2005. pp. 47–48. .]
Vujcic is a member of the
Serbian Literary Guild (since 2003), the
Association of Writers of Serbia (since 2004), the
Association of Writers of Republika Srpska (since 2008) and the US-based International Association of Writers. In 2007, the International Association of Writers named him a Poetry Ambassador of the United States.
He is also an honourable member of the Desanka Maksimović Serbian Canadian Association
and has written for ''
Književna reč'', ''Književne novine'' and for ''Novine'' where he was the editor of the
feuilleton
A ''feuilleton'' (; a diminutive of , the leaf of a book) was originally a kind of supplement attached to the political portion of French newspapers, consisting chiefly of non-political news and gossip, literature and art criticism, a chronicle ...
titled Serbian Orthodoxy.
Vujcic is featured in the book ''Moždana veza sa Srbijom, 100 dragulja srpskog rasejanja'' (Brain Connection with Serbia, 100 Jewels of the Serbian Diaspora) by Radivoje Petrović which features the "one hundred most-known Serbs throughout the world-wide Serbian diaspora." He was featured on the cover of the Ministry of Diaspora of the Republic of Serbia book called ''U čast pisaca iz rasejanja / In Honour of Writers in the Diaspora''
in which literary critics
Miodrag Perišić and
Čedomir Mirković said that "Vujcic is one of the most significant living Serbian poets and dissidents."
Vujcic is included in the
biographical lexicon ''Serbian Writers in Diaspora 1914–2014''.
"Serbian Writers in Diaspora" project
(in Serbian), Wayback Machine
The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by Internet Archive, an American nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California. Launched for public access in 2001, the service allows users to go "back in ...
. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
Vujcic, nicknamed Pearse after Pádraig Pearse,
Personal life
Vujcic has four children.
Bibliography
*''Razmišljanja jednog leša'' (Beogradska knjiga, 2004)
*''Beograde, dobro je, bi' iz Toronta tebi'' (Beogradska knjiga, 2004)
*''Kastriranje vetra'' (Beogradska knjiga, 2005)
*''Deveto koleno sve/mira'' (Beogradska knjiga, 2005)
*''Wet'' (UBC Canada Press, 2013)
*''Repatriates'' (UBC Canada Press, 2013)
*''Catching Saliva'' (UBC Canada Press, 2013)
*''A Few Good Little Thoughts'' (UBC Canada Press, 2013)
*''Thoughts of a Corpse'' (UBC Canada Press, 2014)
*''Belgrade, It's All Good'' (UBC Canada Press, 2014)
*''Castration of the Wind'' (UBC Canada Press, 2014)
*''Ninth Step of the Universe'' (UBC Canada Press, 2014)
*''Vlažno'' (UBC Canada Press, 2014)
*''Povratnici'' (UBC Canada Press, 2014)
*''Hvatanje pljuvačke'' (UBC Canada Press, 2014)
*''Nekoliko lepih malih misli'' (UBC Canada Press, 2014)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vujcic, Prvoslav
1960 births
Living people
Writers from Požarevac
Poets from Toronto
Journalists from Toronto
Serbian male writers
Serbian male poets
Serbian journalists
Serbian monarchists
Serbian anti-communists
Yugoslav dissidents
Members of the Serbian Orthodox Church
Exophonic writers
Aphorists
Foundrymen
People with post-traumatic stress disorder
Canadian male journalists
Canadian male poets
Canadian male non-fiction writers
Canadian people of Serbian descent
Serbian emigrants to Canada
Yugoslav emigrants to Canada
Naturalized citizens of Canada
21st-century Canadian poets