On Thursday, 26 March 2026, the Muhamed Kantardžić Library in Breza (BiH) hosted a presentation of the multilingual regional Biber Short Story Contest and its latest short story collection. Edin Salčinović was the host and moderator, and the discussion included: Slobodanka Boba Đuderija, author from Šibenik/Split whose story Meštar was included in the Biber 06 Collection, Marija Starčević, author from Belgrade whose story Treba nešto da uradim sa cipelama was also selected for publication in the Collection, as well as Almin Kaplan from Stolac, who was a member of the jury, and Radomir Radević from Belgrade, who is on the Biber Team.
Almin Kaplan, who was on the jury for the sixth Biber Contest together with Tanja Stupar Trifunović and Jasna Dimitrijević, was asked about what that was like and said that the jury received some 120 stories and spent a few months exchanging impressions: “When you read 120 stories, that’s 120 different moods. I thought, since there were three of us, there would be three subjective experiences. When we made the decision and the names of the authors of the stories were revealed, I felt a bit nervous, did I make a mistake.”
Since she was a participant in the protest in Serbia, Edin asked Marija Starčević for her thoughts on the current situation and she said: “The current government is incapable of living in peace, of governing in peace. I’ve been going to protests ever since I can remember. I recently spoke at a gathering in the same spot where I came out to protest as a secondary school pupil. It’s like re-living the same day over and over again.”
Slobodanka Boba Đuderija remembered the time when the tensions started: “Everyone wanted to separate and be different, but it seems to me that we have never been more the same.” She grumbled about having to live next to Hajduk’s stadium and that she almost had a panic attack when she saw a group of young people raising their right hand in the air. It seems to her that things are worse today than they were 4 or 5 years after the war. And she believes this definitely has to do with centres of power because “no tyrant can survive if there’s reconciliation and forgiveness. The biggest problem is that no side is willing to kneel before the victims and bow their heads.”
Edin pointed out that the Biber Team believes in literature and its role in society, and he asked the guests whether they think literature should be socially engaged. Almin responded: “I’ve come to terms with the fact that nothing in life has to be. But I think literature can’t help but be socially engaged.” He added that work needs to be done not only on international understanding, but understanding in general, because people don’t seem to understand each other well. Marija believes that writers do not live in a vacuum, but here and now, and that they write about their experiences or the experiences of people close to them.
Slobodanka said of her story Meštar that it was a true event that moved her: “It really moved me. I was having coffee with my enemy. And I grew through that experience. People should welcome and look forward to things that make us grow.”
Radomir Radević from the team organising the contest said that Biber acted like a generator of empathy, that these were stories about the little people.
There was a lot of talk about reconciliation. Slobodanka believes that every little bit helps, and that if one person is moved by just an inch, it matters. Almin talked about how he has come to the conclusion that you should speak out against “your own”, because that way “the others” who are still afraid to do so will be less afraid. He came to this conclusion after following web portals in Stolac and the comments people leave under news articles.
At the end, Radomir announced the seventh Biber Contest, which is under way and will be open until 24 May. This time, in addition to traditional Biber topics, the contest is dedicated to the students in Serbia and will also accept stories about them and their struggle for justice, freedom and equality.
Authors writing in Albanian, Bosnian, Montenegrin, Croatian, Serbian or Macedonian are welcome to send in their short stories for the Biber Contest. The published stories deal with reconciliation in the context of the aftermath of the wars and violence in the countries of former Yugoslavia, including 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 Biber 06 Collection was published in March last year. It includes 25 stories from the region selected from 490 that were entered in the contest.
Electronic editions of all Biber Collections can be downloaded for free from this website.