Ljubica Ostojić

Ljubica Ostojić is a poet, writer and playwright from Bosnia and Herzegovina. She writes in Croatian language and teaches dramaturgy at the Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo.^[1] She was born on 20 March 1945 in Belgrade, and moved with her parents in the same year to Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

She got her Arts degree with a major in comparative literature and theatrology in the Faculty of Philosophy in Sarajevo.

As a young poet, she was associated with the group of Sarajevan poets known as Sudbonosni dječaci (the 'Destined boys') developing as literary and intellectual circle around Mak Dizdar and Duško Trifunović, with other distinguished poets of her generation such as: Abdulah Sidran, Stevan Tontić, Rajko Petrov Nogo, Radovan Karadžić, Ivan Kordić, Drago Jovanović, Predrag Finci etc.^[2]

Ljubica Ostojić worked as a dramaturg at the Youth Theatre in Sarajevo. She is a professional writer, playwright and long-time theatrical critic for local newspapers and specialised journals, such as Odjek or Književna revija, and from 1994 lectured at the Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo where she holds the title of Professor.

Ljubica Ostojić writes scripts for dramas on radio and TV, critical and essay texts on theatre, literature and visual arts. She has also adapted numerous texts for performance in the theatre.

Her poems and texts have been translated into English, Albanian, German, Macedonian, French, Slovene, Turkish, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Greek and Hungarian.

She is a member of the Association of Writers of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1974 and PEN Club of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2007.

Awards

She has received numerous recognitions for her works, such as:

The award of the publisher Svjetlost for the best book of 1974.

The award of the publisher Veselin Masleša for the best book of 1985.

The award "Luka Pavlović" from the Association of Theatrical Critics and Theatrologists of Bosnia-Herzegovina for 1990/91.

The award "Golden Brooch" for culture by the weekly magazine Žena for 1998.

The international award "Grozdanin kikot" – for her contribution to the development of drama education in 2000.

The Golden Laurel Wreath for her contribution to the art of theater, given by the MESS festival in 2012.^[3]

Poetry

VRIJEME ZA UKRAS (The Time for Adornment) Svjetlost: Sarajevo 1969 (as Ljubica Ostojić-Finci).

ISPOD DRVLJA I KAMENJA (Under the Timbers and Stones) Svjetlost: Sarajevo 1973.

DOŠLO JE DO RIJEČI (It Came to the Words) Svjetlost: Sarajevo 1976.

ZA DIVNO ČUDO (For a sake of Beautiful Miracle) Veselin Masleša: Sarajevo 1977.

KOGA SE TIČE LEPTIRICA (Who Cares for the Butterfly), Veselin Masleša: Sarajevo 1981.

MORSKA PJESMARICA (Songbook of the Sea), Veselin Masleša: Sarajevo 1985.

MORSKA PJESMARICA (Songbook of the Sea), Zonex Ex Libris: Sarajevo 2008 (second, reworked edition).

SAHAT KULA (The Old Turkish Clock tower), Međunarodni centar za mir: Sarajevo 1995.

PORTOMORTO, Egzil ABC: Ljubljana 1996.

SMRTNA PJESMARICA (Songbook of Death), Svjetlost: Sarajevo 1999.

THALIASTRASSE MOJA ULICA (Thaliastrasse – my street), Kamerni Teatar: Sarajevo 2000.

JESAM I BILA SAM (I am and I have been), Međunarodni centar za mir/ Sarajevo Publishing: Sarajevo/Tuzla 2003.

VIDIMO SE JUČER (See You Yesterday), Zalihica: Sarajevo 2007.

Short stories

ANĐELI U SNIJEGU (Snow Angels), Zalihica: Sarajevo 2012.

Published Drama texts

KOČOPERITIS IZVJESNE MLADE DAME U PUBERTETU (The Over-Enthusiasm of a Certain Young Lady in her Puberty) Zajednica prof. pozorišta BiH: Sarajevo 1985.

RUŽNO PAČE (The Ugly Duckling) Zajednica prof. pozorišta BiH: Sarajevo 1991.

MAGIJSKA DOTICANJA: Doticanja i Nevjesta od kiše (Magical Touches, comprising the drama of Touches and The Rain-Bride), Centar za kulturu i obrazovanje: Tešanj 2008.

- Macedonian translation of Nevjesta of kiše published as Невеста од дожд in 7 Драми од БиХ, transl. and ed. by L. Mazova. Siloson: Skopje 2013, pp. 251–280.

Rijeka čudotvornica/The Miraculous River, in Tmača Art 45-46 (2008), pp. 102–121 (English and Croatian publications).

Sve se nekako preživi osim smrti (One can survive everything except death) in Prst: Zbirka savremene drame 2, ed. by V. Bošković. Hartefakt Drama: Belgrade 2012, pp. 275–345.

- Albanian translation published as Gjithçka mbijetohet, përveç vdekjes in Drama bashkëkohore nga regjioni, transl. by F. Baraj. Quendra Multimedia, Prishtinë 2013, pp. 209–255.

Books for children and youth

TU STANUJE DANIJELOVA PRIČA, (Here Lives the Story of Danijel), Svjetlost: Sarajevo 1974.

- second edition published in Dječija književnost naroda i narodnosti BiH u 20 knjiga (Literature for Children of the Nations and Minorities of Bosnia-Herzegovina in 20 Books) Book 17, Veselin Masleša/Svjetlost: Sarajevo 1990.

ZAŠTO DUBIŠ NA GLAVI, DANIJELE (Why do you stand Upside-Down Danijel?) Veselin Masleša: Sarajevo 1983.

DJEČAK SA KLJUČEM OKO VRATA (The Boy with a Key around his Neck) Veselin Masleša: Sarajevo 1986.

SVJETLUCANJA (Glowings), Sarajevo Publishing: Sarajevo 2003.

SPASITI YOA, ŽURNO (Hurry up to Save Yo, the Dragon), Hercegtisak: Široki Brijeg/Split 2005.

NJIGA O ARIEL ((B)ook About Ariel), Kaligraf: Sarajevo 2005.

ČITANČICA ZA DJEVOJČICE I PTICE (A Small Book for Girls and Birds) Međunarodni centar za mir/Planjax: Sarajevo/Tešanj 2008.

PRINCEZA ARIEL I YO (Princess Ariel and Yo), Bosanska Riječ: Tuzla 2010.

BAJKA O ZAČARANOM DANU (The Tale of the Enchanted Day) TKD Šahinpašić: Sarajevo 2010.

Theoretical works

‘Pour une anthologie imaginaire du théâtre contemporain en Bosnie-Herzégovine’, Revue des Études Slaves 77/1-2 (2006), pp. 67–77.

(with S. Djulic) ‘War and Theatre’, Intercultural Education (ex European Journal for Intercultural Education) 10/3 (1999), pp. 313–318.

Literature about Ljubica Ostojić’s work

C. Hawkesworth, Voices in the Shadows: women and verbal art in Serbia and Bosnia, Central European University Press: Budapest 2000, pp. 261–262.

N. C. Lee, The Singers of Lamentation: cities under siege, from Ur to Jerusalem and Sarajevo, Brill: Leiden 2002, pp. 2–3, 91.

I. Kajan, 'Dječiji ludistički roman Ljubice Ostojić', in Život: Journal for Literature and Culture (Sarajevo) 55/2 (2008), pp. 86–90.

V. Premec, 'Iz poetike Ljubice Ostojić', in Novi Izraz: Journal for Literature and Art (Sarajevo) 45-46 (July–December 2009), pp. 204–210.

M. Salihbeg Bosnawi, 'Ova se, poezija / iznutra, prstenuje', Esej u povodu', in "Skupa", Eseji, Sarajevo 2009, pp. 90–110.

References

External links

Author's page on The Association of Writers of Bosnia-Herzegovina website (in Croatian):

Author's page on The P.E.N. society of Bosnia-Herzegovina (in Croatian):