Biography
I was born in 1974. I grew up in the small Dalmatian town of Kaštel Lukšić near Split. After graduating from secondary school in Split, I obtained an undergraduate degree from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Science in Zadar. At the same faculty I enrolled into the postgraduate study programme in literature. My first collection of poems was published in 1988 when I was 14 years old, and since then I have published twelve books: six collections of poetry, one collection of stories, two novels and three picture books.
After graduating from university I worked as a teacher of Croatian language and literature for a couple of years before I devoted myself solely to writing as a profession. This has included writing book reviews as well as columns for newspapers and portals, and for the last couple of years I have been regularly collaborating with puppet theaters and theaters for children and the young. I also hold a workshop for creative writing.
The focus of my literary work has mostly been on prose and poetry. My books have so far been translated into eleven languages (German, English, Spanish, Italian, Bulgarian, Dutch, Swedish, Macedonian, Slovenian, Hungarian and French); they have gone through 26 editions in Europe (outside Croatia) and 2 book editions in the United States. Individual, shorter pieces have been published in more than 30 languages and in a number of magazines and publications around the world.
I have won several important national and regional awards for literary work as well as for theater work (for children and youth). I was an invited guest speaker at numerous international readings, festivals and book fairs in Berlin, Leipzig, Frankfurt, Dresden, Vienna, London, Edinburgh, Rome, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Budapest, Bucharest, and Canary Islands.
My work has been included in international anthologies of poetry and prose, such as (Best European Fiction, Surfacing-Contemporary Croatian Poetry, Les Femmes(se)racontent, A todos nas falta algo-Antologia del cuento Croatia, etc.)
Three of my stories have been made into short films (Sedam neodgovorenih poziva, Balavica, Tresnje); one was made into a graphic novel (Danijel Zezelj: Ljeto); and my novel “Adios Cowboy” was adapted and performed as a theatre play.
Reviews of my books have been published in the following newspapers and magazines: The Guardian, Le Monde Diplomatique, Berliner Zeitung, Die Zeit, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, La Republic, The Independent, The Irish Times, Corriere della Serra, The Atlantic, The Publisher Weekly, De Volkskrant, Jelenkor…