Uglješa Šajtinac (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet (, ), also known as the Serbian script, (, ), is a standardized variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language. It originated in medieval Serbia and was significantly reformed in the 19th cen ...

: Угљеша Шајтинац; born 1 October 1971) is 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 ...

writer and playwright.

Biography

Šajtinac grew up in an artistic household. His mother, Mirjana, is an

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. His father, Radivoj Šajtinac, is a poet, writer, and playwright. He studied

Dramaturgy Dramaturgy is the study of dramatic composition and the representation of the main elements of drama on the stage. The role of a dramaturg in the field of modern dramaturgy is to help realize the multifaceted world of the play for a production u ...

at the

Faculty of Dramatic Arts The Faculty of Dramatic Arts (; abbreviated FDU) is a constituent institution of the University of Arts in Belgrade which focuses on education and research in the fields of film, theatre, dramaturgy, culture, radio, acting and medias. It was esta ...

of the Belgrade's University of Arts and graduated in 1999. He worked as a

dramaturge A dramaturge or dramaturg (from Ancient Greek δραματουργός – dramatourgós) is a literary adviser or editor in a theatre, opera, or film company who researches, selects, adapts, edits, and interprets scripts, libretti, texts, and pr ...

at the

Serbian National Theatre The Serbian National Theatre ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српско народно позориште, Srpsko narodno pozorište), located in Novi Sad, is one of the major theatres of Serbia. History The Serbian National Theatre was founded in 1861 durin ...

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; #Name, see below for other names) is the List of cities in Serbia, second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannoni ...

from 2003 to 2005, then became a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of dramaturgy at the Academy of Arts of the

University of Novi Sad The University of Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Универзитет у Новом Саду, Univerzitet u Novom Sadu; ) is a public university in Novi Sad, Serbia. Alongside nationally prestigious University of Belgrade, University of Novi Sad is ...

. He lives in his hometown. In theatre history, Šajtinac is the only Serbian playwright whose play (''Huddersfield'') was first performed abroad in English as a world premiere. He was inspired to write this play after visiting

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

in 2000. It was first performed at the Leeds Playhouse in 2004. In 2005, a Serbian performance was shown at the Yugoslav Drama Theatre, and a German performance at the Volksbühne Berlin in the same year, a U.S. American performance at the

TUTA Theatre Introduction The Utopian Theatre Asylum, widely known as TUTA Theatre, is a nonprofit theater company based in Chicago. Founded in 1995 in Washington, D.C., TUTA Theatre has committed itself to engaging the American audience with theater that is ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

in 2006 (adaptation by Caridad Svich, developed during the ''INTERPLAY'' playwright exchange project of

New Dramatists New Dramatists is an organization of playwrights founded in 1949 and located at 424 West 44th Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues in the Hell's Kitchen (Clinton) neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The members of New Dramatists par ...

), a Croatian performance at the Zagrebačko kazalište mladih (Youth Theatre) in 2018, directed by Rene Medvešek, and a Bosnian-Herzegovinian performance at the Kamerni teatar 55 in 2018, co-produced by the ASU. It has been performed as a

stage reading A stage reading, also known as a staged reading, is a form of theatre without sets or full costumes. The actors, who read from scripts, may be seated, stand in fixed positions, or incorporate minimal stage movement. There is an overlap wit ...

of the drama project ''3D'' at the ''Zlomvaz Festival'' 2011 of the

DAMU The Department of Dramatic Theatre (, abbreviated DAMU) is one of three departments at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (alongside the Film and TV school and the Department of Music). The academy was opened in 1945 immediately after th ...

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. There is a French translation by Yves-Alexandre Tripković from 2018. He received the '' Sterijina Award'' for his play at the Sterijino pozorje Festival 2005, and he also participated in creating the screenplay for the same-named film. Šajtinac wrote a dramatized adaptation of the novel ''

Robinson Crusoe ''Robinson Crusoe'' ( ) is an English adventure novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. Written with a combination of Epistolary novel, epistolary, Confessional writing, confessional, and Didacticism, didactic forms, the ...

'', which was performed by Theatre Playground under the title ''Life On A Desert Island'' as a family show for children in

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

, Riverside Park, and

Prospect Park Prospect Park may refer to: Businesses * Prospect Park (production company), entertainment production company *Prospect Park Productions NZ, theatre company based in Dunedin, New Zealand Places New Zealand * Prospect Park, New Zealand, a portion ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 2009; the Serbian premiere as an open-air event by Theatre Playground on Ciganlija Island was in 2003, and his second play, based on a story from the novel, ''Robinson and the Pirates,'' was performed the following year. In 2010, Šajtinac participated as a co-author in creating the play ''

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

Drama or Awful Coffee, Cheap Cigarettes,'' which was realized by Wiener Wortstaetten as an international drama project, written by ten authors from ten countries, and staged by the Slovak Theater without home (Divadlo bez domova) at Štúdio 12 in

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

. Šajtinac is a laureate of several major literary prizes, such as the Biljana Jovanović Award 2007 for ''Walk on!'', the

Ivo Andrić Ivo Andrić ( sr-Cyrl, Иво Андрић, ; born Ivan Andrić; 9 October 1892 – 13 March 1975) was a Yugoslav novelist, poet and short story writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1961 Nobel Prize in Literature, 1961. His writ ...

Award 2014 for ''Banatorium'', the

European Union 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 ...

2014 for his novel ''Quite Modest Gifts,'' and the

Isidora Sekulić Award The Isidora Sekulić Award (, sr-cyr, Награда Исидора Секулић) is a Serbian, and former Yugoslav, literary prize established by the Belgrade municipality of Savski venac in 1967 and awarded annually since 1968 in honor of th ...

2017 for his collected short stories ''The Woman from Juárez,'' which contain impressive narrations about

individuals An individual is one that exists as a distinct entity. Individuality (or self-hood) is the state or quality of living as an individual; particularly (in the case of humans) as a person unique from other people and possessing one's own needs or g ...

of global migration and its political causes. The award-winning novel ''Quite Modest Gifts'' has been published in Italian, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Slovenian, Macedonian, and Ukrainian translations. The

International Youth Library The International Youth Library (IYL) (, IJB) in Munich is a library that specializes in the collection of children and youth literature from around the world in order to make them available to the public, focusing on the international community. ...

added Šajtinac's children's book ''Gang Of Undesirable Pets'' (Banda neželjenih ljubimaca) to the ''White Ravens List'' for recommendable children and youth literature 2019. Šajtinac is a selected author of the French drama project ''Instant MIX,'' which is supported by

Creative Europe Creative Europe is a European Union programme for the cultural and creative sectors. In its first phase, going from 2014 to 2020, it had a budget of € 1.47 billion, which were expanded to € 2.44 billion in its second phase (2021-2027). His ...

. In 2017, his play ''Banat'' was introduced at the

Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques SACD, founded as Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques () on 7 March 1829, is a French collecting society, undertaking collective rights management for authors. The Society manages, promotes and protects the performance rights of theatr ...

due to this project. In 2008, this play was already translated by

Chris Thorpe Christopher Thorpe (born October 29, 1970, in Waukegan, Illinois) is an American luger who competed from 1989 to 2002. Competing in four Winter Olympics, he won two medals in the men's doubles event with a silver in 1998 and a bronze i ...

under the title ''Borderland,'' and in 2012, there was a German-speaking stage reading at the

Leipzig Book Fair The Leipzig Book Fair () is the second largest book fair in Germany after the Frankfurt Book Fair. The fair takes place annually over four days at the Leipzig Trade Fairground in the northern part of Leipzig, Saxony. It is the first large trad ...

, including a subsequent talk with the author. In 2003, while still young and relatively unknown internationally, Šajtinac wrote the screenplay for the

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

''True Story of an Umbrella, a Bicycle, a Bullet, and an Easter Bunny'' (Istinita priča o kišobranu, biciklu, jednom metku i uskršnjem zeki). He was its co-director and played a leading role.

Bibliography (selection)

Drama *''Rekviziter'' ( Propsmaster), Premiere at Belgrade Drama Theatre, 1999; English reading at Festival Of Contemporary European Plays,

Huddersfield University The University of Huddersfield is a public research university located in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. It has been a University since 1992, but has its origins in a series of institutions dating back to the 19th century. It has made te ...

2000. *''Pravo na Rusa'' (Right To The Russian), Premiere at

, 2001. The play is about the love affair between the local farmer Maria and the Russian prisoner of war Alexey in

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

Banat Banat ( , ; ; ; ) is a geographical and Historical regions of Central Europe, historical region located in the Pannonian Basin that straddles Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. It is divided among three countries: the eastern part lie ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. *''Govorite li australijski?'' (Do You Speak Australian?), Premiere at National Theatre '' Toša Jovanović'', 2002. *''Život na pustom ostrvu'' (Life On A Desert Island), Theatre Playground (Pozorište igralište), open-air premiere at BELEF summer festival, 2003. *''Robinzon i pirati'' (Robinson and the Pirates), Theatre Playground (Pozorište igralište), open-air premiere at BELEF summer festival, 2004. *''Huddersfield'',

World Premiere A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work. History Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the film ...

at Leeds Playhouse, 2004. *''Hadersfild'' (Huddersfield), Premiere at Yugoslav Drama Theatre, 2005; guest performances in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

(2005, Betty Oliphant Theatre),

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

(2006, Slovene National Theatre Drama),

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 ...

(2007, ZKM – Zagrebačko kazalište mladih),

Olsztyn Olsztyn ( , ) is a city on the Łyna River in northern Poland. It is the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, and is a city with powiat rights, city with county rights. The population of the city was estimated at 169,793 residents Olsz ...

(2009, Festival DEMOLUDY) and

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

(2012, Theater Akzent). *''Banat'' (

), Premiere at Yugoslav Drama Theatre, 2007;

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as th ...

by Isidora Žebeljan *''Vetruškina ledina'' (Falcon Glade),

puppetry Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – wikt:inanimate, inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. S ...

for children, adaptation by Irena Tot, Premiere at National Theatre ''Toša Jovanović'', 2008. *''Lepet mojih plućnih krila'' (Fluttering Of My Lungs), Premiere at National Theatre

Sombor Sombor ( sr-Cyrl, Сомбор, ; ; ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the West Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The city has a total population of 41,814 (), while its adminis ...

, 2009. *''4 komada'' (Four Plays, contains Animals, Banat, Hadersfild, Ogigijanke), Mali Nemo,

Pančevo Pančevo (Serbian Cyrillic: Панчево, ; ; ; ; ) is a list of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the South Banat District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It is located on the shores of rivers Timiș (ri ...

2014, . *''Animals'', Premiere at

Kruševac Kruševac ( sr-Cyrl, Крушевац, ) is a list of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Rasina District in central Serbia. It is located in the valley of West Morava, on Rasina (river), Rasina river. According to the 202 ...

Theatre (Kruševačko pozorište), 2018. Prose *''Čuda prirode : prilozi za odbranu poezije'' (Miracles of Nature: contributions to the defense of poetry), short stories, Književna omladina Srbije, Belgrade 1993, . *''Čemer : libreto za krut košmar ili roman u pričama'' (Woe:

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

for a cruel nightmare or novel in stories), novel, Jefimija,

Kragujevac Kragujevac ( sr-Cyrl, Крагујевац, ) is the List of cities in Serbia, fourth largest city in Serbia and the administrative centre of the Šumadija District. It is the historical centre of the geographical region of Šumadija in central Se ...

1998, . *''Nada stanuje na kraju grada'' ( Nada Lives On The Edge Of Town),

epistolary novel An epistolary novel () is a novel written as a series of letters between the fictional characters of a narrative. The term is often extended to cover novels that intersperse other kinds of fictional document with the letters, most commonly di ...

, Studenski kulturni centar, Belgrade 2002, . *''Vetruškina ledina'' ( Vetruška Glade), book for children, Studentski kulturni centar,

2005, . *''Vok on! : manifest razdraganog pesimizma'' (Walk on!: manifesto of happy pessimism), short stories, Narodna knjiga–Alfa, Belgrade 2007, . *''Sasvim skromni darovi'' (Quite Modest Gifts), novel, Arhipelag, Belgrade 2011, . *''Čarna i Nesvet'' (Crow Čarna and Dew-worm Nesvet), book for children, Pčelica,

Čačak Čačak ( sr-Cyrl, Чачак, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Moravica District in central Serbia. It is located in the West Morava Valley. According to the 2022 census, the city itself has a population ...

2013, . *''Banatorijum'' (Banatorium), short stories, Arhipelag, Belgrade 2014, . *''Žena iz Huareza'' (The Woman from Juárez), short stories, Arhipelag, Belgrade 2017, . *''Banda neželjenih ljubimaca'' (Gang of Undesirable Pets), book for children, Pčelica izdavaštvo,

2017, . * ''Biće jednom'' (It Will Be Once), book for teenager, Pčelica, Čačak 2020, . Translations *''Three contemporary European plays'' (contains ''Propsmaster''), Alumnus,

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

2000, . *''Huddersfield'' (adaptation by Chris Thorpe), Oberon,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

2004, . *''Postpolityczność : antologia nowego dramatu serbskiego'' (contains ''Huddersfield''), Panga Pank,

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 ...

2011, . *''Съвсем скромни дарове'' (Quite Modest Gifts), Ciela,

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

2013, . *''5 сербских пьес'' (5 Serbian Dramas; contains ''Huddersfield''), Ostrovityanin,

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

2015, . *''Skromni darovi'' (Modest Gifts), Sodobnost International,

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

2016, . *''Doni modesti'' (Modest Gifts), Atmosphere libri,

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

2016, . *''Дуже скромні дари'' (Quite Modest Gifts), Tempora,

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

2016, . *''Szerény ajándékok'' (Modest Gifts), Noran Libro Kiadó,

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

2016, . *''Сосема скромни дарови'' (Quite Modest Gifts), Prozart media,

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

2016, . *''De très modestes cadeaux'' (Quite Modest Gifts), Les Éditions Bleu & Jaune, Paris 2021,.

Awards

*Josip Kulundžić Award 1999 as best student of dramaturgy at FDU * Slobodan Selenić Award 1999 for the play ''Pravo na Rusa'' as best graduation work at FDU * Sterijina Award 2005 for best contemporary dramatic text *Second Award for best screenplay 2007 at Film Screenplay Festival

Vrnjačka Banja Vrnjačka Banja ( sr-cyr, Врњачка Бања) is a town and municipality located in the Raška District of central Serbia. The population of the town is 9,252 inhabitants, while the population of the municipality is 25,065 inhabitants (2022 ce ...

(together with Dejan Nikolaj Kraljačić) *Award for best screenplay at ''Prvi Filmski festival Srbije''

2007 * Biljana Jovanović Award 2007 for ''Walk on!'' *Distinction of Jury for best screenplay at Film Festival ''Wiosna Filmów''

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

2008 *Award for best

text at 40th Meeting of Professional Puppetries of Serbia,

Niš Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names of European cities in different languages (M–P)#N, names in other languages), less often spelled in English as Nish, is the list of cities in Serbia, third largest city in Serbia and the administrative cente ...

2008 *Vital's ''Golden Sunflower'' Award 2011 (''Zlatni suncokret'') for ''Quite Modest Gifts'' *

Borisav Stanković ) , honorific_prefix = , honorific_suffix = , image = Bora Stanković.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = Stanković's statue in Vranje , native_name = , native_name_lang = sr , pseudon ...

Award 2011 for ''Quite Modest Gifts'' * Politikin Zabavnik Award 2013 for ''Crow Čarna and Dew-worm Nesvet'' * Andrić Award 2014 for ''Banatorium'' *

2014 for ''Quite Modest Gifts'' *

2017 for ''Woman from Juárez * Sima Cucić Award 2018 for ''Gang of Undesirable Pets''Cucić Award
BKC, retrieved 2021-03-22.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sajtinac, Ugljesa 1971 births Living people Writers from Zrenjanin Serbian male short story writers Serbian short story writers Serbian novelists Serbian dramatists and playwrights University of Belgrade Faculty of Dramatic Arts alumni Dramaturges Drama teachers