David Albahari
| David Albahari | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
15 March 1948 Peć, FPR Yugoslavia |
| Occupation | Writer, Novelist |
| Nationality | Serbian, Canadian |
David Albahari (pronounced [dǎv̞id albaxǎri], Serbian Cyrillic: Давид Албахари, born in 15 March 1948[1]) is a Serbian writer of Jewish origin, residing in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Albahari writes mainly novels and short stories. He is also an established translator from English into Serbian. He is a member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts.[1] He graduated from the University of Belgrade.[2]
Born in Peć,[1] SFR Yugoslavia, Albahari published the first collection of short stories "Porodično vreme" (Family Time) in 1973. He became better known to wider audience in 1982 with a volume "Opis smrti" (Description of Death) for which he got Ivo Andrić award. In 1991 he became the chair of the Federation of Jewish Communes of Yugoslavia, and worked on evacuation of the Jewish population from besieged Sarajevo. In 1994, he moved with his family to Calgary in the Canadian province of Alberta, where he still lives. He continues to write and publish in the Serbian language.
In the late 1980s, Albahari initiated the first formal petition to legalize marijuana in Yugoslavia.
His books were translated into several languages and six of them are available in English: Words Are Something Else (1996), Tsing (1997), Bait (2001), Gotz and Meyer (2003, UK) (2005, US), Snow Man (2005), and Leeches (2011).
In 2012 he was awarded the Vilenica Prize. He also received the following awards: Ivo Andrić Award (1982), Stanislav Vinaver Award (1993), NIN Prize (1996), National Library of Serbia Award for bestseller (1996), International Balkanika Award (1996), Bridge Berlin Award (1998) and City of Belgrade Award (2005).[1]
Albahari has been contributing to Geist magazine.
Personal life
His ancestor is Nisim Albahari who was awarded the Order of the People's Hero by Josip Broz Tito on November 27, 1953.
References
- Homepage in Serbian and English
- Biography at Internationales Literaturfestival Berlin
- "Marijuana March in Belgrade"
- David Albahari at Geist.com
- Biography at Zandonai Editore
Bibliography
- Zink, Emanuela Zandonai Editore, Rovereto 2009
- L’esca (original title: "Mamac"), Emanuela Zandonai Editore, Rovereto 2008