Translated from the original Croatian by Mima Simić
2023 Longlist
Love in late capitalism: Ivana Sajko takes us into a war between kitchen and bedroom. He, an unemployed Dante scholar, is trying to change the world and write a novel. She, a passable actress, has given up her safe job at the theatre to care for their child. He is delirious, she is on edge. With the rent overdue and violence looming on all sides, the two of them circle one another in a dizzying dance towards the abyss. ‘A brilliant novel: intense and poetic, exhilarating and devastating.’ Priya Basil.
About the Author/Translator:
Ivana Sajko, born in Zagreb in 1975, is a writer, theatre director and performer, working in the overlapping fields of literature, performance art and music. She is an author of five highly-praised novels and dozens of political theatre pieces, among which Woman-bomb gained international success. Her many awards include the Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts et Lettres and the HKW Internationaler Literaturpreis. She lives in Berlin.
Mima Simić is a Croatian writer, an award-winning film critic, translator, and political activist. Her short stories have been included in numerous anthologies, and have been adapted for radio, TV and animated film. Her translations include works of fiction, non-fiction, literary theory, screenplays, and films. She lives and works in Berlin.
Nominating Library’s Comments:
Love Novel tells the story of a young married couple whose relationship is affected by the struggles of everyday reality. They are fighting for the survival of their love and the meaning of life in conditions of extreme economic insecurity. The lack of communication affects the relationship resulting in slow deterioration, followed by general dissatisfaction. This “love novel” becomes relevant again in today’s situation of new economic crises that we all face. – Rijeka City Library, Croatia