Biber – short story contest on the topic of reconciliation has been closed.

We would like to thank all those who contributed to making this contest a success, and particularly the 316 short story writers who sent us their stories.

We were overwhelmed by the response and the number of stories, which gave us cause to hope because we believe it is important to talk about and promote reconciliation in different ways.

A multi-language collection of short stories from the contest will be published in April this year, and will be promoted in a number of cities in the region, the promotions will be announced in due course.

Another Biber contest will be organised in 2017.

Below please find the Jury Statement.

Biber Team

Jasna Dimitrijević
Ivana Franović
Aleksandra Bogdanovska
Katarina Milićević

Statement of the Jury for the Regional Short Story Contest Biber

The jury of the Regional Short Story Contest Biber on the topic of: reconciliation in the context of the legacy of wars and violence in the former Yugoslavia, particularly from 1991 onwards, made up of:

Faruk Šehić, writer from Sarajevo, Doruntina Basha, dramatist from Priština, and Bojan Krivokapić, writer from Novi Sad selected 25 short stories of outstanding quality that will be published.

The jury reached a unanimous decision to award the following three short stories:

Third prize: Limbo u ljetnjem periodu [Limbo in the Summer Season] by Slađana Ljubičić from Novi Sad,

Second prize: Kristalna vaza [Crystal Vase] by Nadia Geras from Zagreb, and

First prize: Rat [War] by Vladimir Tabašević from Belgrade.

The collection will include stories by the following authors:  Antonela Marušić (Nora Verde), Arsim Jonuzi, Damjan Krstanović, Verče Karafiloska, Dalip Xh Gashi, Petar Babić, Maja Slavnić, Blagica Đorđievska, Jasna Radulović, Korana Serdarević, Željka Horvat Čeč, Nada Jelinčić, Marenglen Cano, Božidar Knežević, Dragan Bunović, Mehmed Đedović, Dielzza Haxhimehmeti, Lindita Komani, Simona Lokvenec, Suzana Đorđievska, Petre Dimovski, and Sandra Cvitković.

The jury commends the quality of the short stories, their poetic diversity and the high degree of awareness of the complexities of the contest topic. The three prize-winning short stories stand out for their balanced voices and different approaches to the issue of reconciliation, in particular the story that received the first prize, as well as their mastery of the writing process, literariness and clear political message.

The jury is also glad to note that this literary contest brought together different authors, ranging from those with respectable literary experience to those making their first confident creative steps.

The jury would like to thank all those who participated in the contest and wishes them success in their further literary endeavours.

Doruntina Basha
Faruk Šehić
Bojan Krivokapić

19 January 2016