The collection of short stories from the fourth Biber Contest was presented in Novi Sad on Thursday, 21 October 2021.
A panel discussion was organised to promote the Biber 04 collection at Bulevar Books with the following panellists: Maja Halapir, recipient of the third prize for her story Trokut [Triangle];Marijana Čanak, whose excellent story Razmjena [Exchange] was included in the collection; Bojan Krivokapić, recipient of the first prize for his story Ptičice [Little Birds]; Qerim Ondozi, translator of the stories into Albanian; and Davorka Turk, member of the Biber Team.
The discussion was moderated by author Andrea Popov Miletić, a native of Novi Sad and a participant in one of the previous Biber Contests whose story was included in the Biber 02 collection. The discussion first focused on how much literature is translated into languages of the region and how we have grown apart in that sense as well over the past decades, with the Biber Contest being a rare example where stories are translated from and into various languages.
Qerim Ondozi, a member of the Biber Team who translated the stories into Albanian said: “Literary exchange between Albanians and the rest of the region is very important. We share the same context, the same burden, we hate and love the same way, it’s sad we choose not to translate. We cannot build a normal life if we are not speaking with our immediate neighbours.”
“To enter the thoughts of the other, to inspire empathy, to see your so-called enemy’s tears, this means accepting the other and is the path towards reconciliation,” said Maja Halapir from Samobor, who won the third prize.
Winner of the first prize and jury member for the Biber 01 Contest Bojan Krivokapić added: “Yugoslavia falling apart is the single most powerful even of our lives and it will outlive us. I like taking part in anonymous contests, to see how far my story will go. What I wanted most was to see my stories translated into Albanian and Macedonian. It’s important to me that they will be read in Albanian and Macedonian.”
Davorka Turk, speaking on behalf of the Centre for Nonviolent Action and the Biber Team, pointed out that “since I’ve lived in Sarajevo, which is almost ten years now, this moment is the most critical in terms of nationalism,” while Qerim Ondozi added how horrified he was at the readiness of people to go to war, that war is treated as an option at all in public discourse.
Maja, Bojan and Marijana read excerpts from their stories to the audience in Novi Sad, and it was a particular delight to have Qerim read an excerpt from the story by Milica Rašić in his translation into Albanian.
“In this process, reconciliation is not a strong enough word. Children make up, here we need healing, a process of healing,” Marijana Čanak added and pointed out that literature was a vast field where we can understand others the way they understand themselves.
The discussion was organised by the Cracker Initiative and Bulevar Books from Novi Sad, and the Centre for Nonviolent Action Sarajevo-Belgrade.
Biber is a short story contest for engaged stories in Albanian, Macedonian, Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian and Montenegrin. The theme of the contest is reconciliation in the context of the aftermath of the wars and violence in the countries of former Yugoslavia, but also eligible are stories that can contribute to better understanding among people, reducing hatred and dismantling prejudice, anti-war stories, stories about dealing with the past, deconstructing images of the enemy, about empathy, brave stories that dare walk in the “enemy’s” shoes, stories that push boundaries and open up the way to build a more stable, safer and freer future for all.
The contest is organised by the Biber team of the Centre for Nonviolent Action Sarajevo-Belgrade.
The fourth Biber Contest was opened in late April 2020. There were around 750 entries. The jury was made up of: Tatjana Gromača, Anton Berishaj and Selvedin Avdić.
The next promotion of Biber 04 is planned for 9 November 2021 in Bugojno, Bosnia and Herzegovina, while in December 2021, we plan to open the fifth Biber Contest for short stories on the same topic as before.
The Biber 04 collection, as well as all the previous collections are available in PDF and Kindle format on the Biber website.
A photo gallery from the Biber promotion in Novi Sad can be viewed here.