Lana Bastašić

Lana Bastašić (Zagreb, 1986) has published two collections of short stories (Fireworks and Permanent Pigments), a poetry collection, A Naive Triptych about Bosnia and Dying, and a collection of stories for children, Nastja Draws the Sun. Her first novel, Catch the Rabbit (2019), received the European Union Prize for Literature and was shortlisted for the NIN Award. It has been translated into twelve languages.

The author has received several awards for best short story, including the “Zija Dizdarević,” “Ulaznica,” and “Carver: Where I’m Calling From” awards, as well as two poetry awards (Targa UNESCO in Trieste and the “Days of Poetry” award in Zaječar), the SKC Kragujevac Award for a First Book, and an award for an unpublished play (“Chamber Theatre 55” in Sarajevo). Her stories have appeared in Polja, Putevi, Sarajevske sveske, Povelja, Fantom slobode, and other regional literary magazines. Her work has also been included in several regional collections and anthologies.

She founded the Bloom School of Literature in Barcelona, where she edited the literary magazine Carn de cap. She is one of the founders of the 3 + 3 Sisters project, which aims to promote women writers from the region. She sometimes lives in Belgrade.

“Lana Bastašić is one of the rare female authors to emerge onto both the international and domestic literary scenes from the former Yugoslavia. Bastašić surpasses her internationally acclaimed foreign peers as well as her local contemporaries in the maturity of her novelistic voice, her authentic authorial voice, the distinctive energy of her storytelling and, most importantly, the high literary standards that she set for herself, and consequently for others, with her debut novel Catch the Rabbit. Although the first edition of the novel was presented as ‘the first novel in our literature about female friendship,’ Bastašić belongs neither to ‘our’ literature nor to the narrative ‘brand’ of the celebrated Elena Ferrante, into which everyone would so readily place her. Lana Bastašić is her own. Is there a greater literary compliment in this day and age?”

– Dubravka Ugrešić

“Playing with famous literary motifs, hidden and less hidden references, Lana Bastašić found her own perspective and wrote a bold, brilliant novel – a promise of sorts that her next book will offer even more, and even better. And that is already devilishly high praise.”

– Ivan Milenković

“Catch the Rabbit is a subtle, complex, tender and exceptionally intelligent story about our time which, I hope, will become required reading.”

– Rumena Bužarovska