DRAGO JANČAR
Drago Jančar (born 13 April 1948) is a Slovenian writer, playwright, and essayist. He is one of the best-known contemporary Slovenian writers. Jančar’s novels, essays, and short stories have been translated into 21 languages and published throughout Europe, Asia, and the United States. The largest number of translations are into German, Czech, and Croatian. His plays have been staged by numerous foreign theatres, while in Slovenia they are often regarded as highlights of the theatrical season. He lives and works in Ljubljana.
He was born in Maribor and studied law in his hometown. While still a student, he edited several magazines, but soon came into conflict with the communist establishment after publishing articles critical of the ruling regime. At the beginning of his career, Jančar was not allowed to publish his work, but after the deaths of Edvard Kardelj and Josip Broz Tito in the late 1970s brought about a gradual liberalisation, he was able to work as a screenwriter and dramaturge. In the mid-1980s, he achieved success with his novels and short stories, while his plays gained recognition throughout Yugoslavia. From the late 1980s, his reputation began to grow beyond the country, particularly in Central Europe. From the early 1990s, he worked as an editor at the publishing house Slovenska Matica in Ljubljana.
Jančar began writing as a teenager. His first short novels were published by the magazine Mladina. Jančar’s prose is influenced by modernist models. One of the central themes of his work is the conflict between individuals and repressive institutions, such as prisons, psychiatric hospitals, and barracks. He is known for his laconic and distinctly ironic style, which often employs tragicomic twists. Most of his novels explore specific events and circumstances in Central European history. He also writes essays and columns on contemporary political and cultural issues. During the war in Bosnia, he expressed his support for the Bosnian cause and personally visited besieged Sarajevo to deliver supplies collected by the Slovenian Writers’ Association to the civilian population. In his essay A Short Report from a Besieged City, he reflected on the war in Yugoslavia and the question of the role of intellectuals in ethnic, national, and political conflicts. During the 1990s, he engaged in a debate with Austrian writer Peter Handke over the breakup of Yugoslavia.
Between 1987 and 1991, Jančar served as president of the Slovenian PEN Centre, and since 1995 he has been a member of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
Jančar has received numerous literary awards, including the Prešeren Award – the most prestigious Slovenian award for the arts – in 1993, awarded to him for his short stories, plays, and essays. He received the Kresnik Award for Best Novel in 1999 for Ringing in the Head, in 2001 for Catherine, the Peacock and the Jesuit, and in 2011 for I Saw Her That Night. He was also awarded the European Short Story Prize (Augsburg, 1994), the Herder Prize for Literature in 2003, and the European Prize for Literature in 2011.
Selected works:
The Galley Slave (novel, 1978), About the Pale Criminal (stories, 1978), The Northern Lights (novel, 1980), The Great Brilliant Waltz (play, 1985), The Death of Mary Snow (stories, 1985)
After Godot (play, 1988), Clement’s Fall (play, 1988), Daedalus (play, 1988), Terra Incognita (essays, 1989), Remembrance of Yugoslavia (essay, 1991), The Angel’s Gaze (stories, 1992)
The Dispute (with Adam Michnik, essay, 1992), The Broken Jug (essay, 1993), Mocking Lust (novel, 1994), Hallstatt (play, 1994), Joke, Irony and Deeper Meaning (essays, 1994), Catherine, the Peacock and the Jesuit (novel, 2000), Brioni (essays, 2002), The Soul of Europe (essays, 2006), The Builder (novel, 2006), The Nameless Tree (novel, 2008), Joyce’s Pupil (stories, 2009), I Saw Her That Night (novel, 2010), As Well as Love (novel, 2017)