In the town of Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the birthplace of one of the most important authors of the former Yugoslavia, Meša Selimović, a literary award bearing his name is presented every year during the “Cum grano salis” international literary gathering. The award has been presented since 1998 for the best novel in the language region of Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The award is highly prestigious. Each year some of the best-known authors, Slavic language experts, literature professors, critics, publishers and book lovers from southeastern Europe, but also from other parts of the world, gather in Tuzla for the presentation of the award. This year’s award had a particular significance as it was the 100th anniversary of the author Meša Selimović’s birth.

After long deliberation, the jury awarded the prize for the best novel published in the region in 2009 to Mirjana Đurđević from Belgrade for her novel “Kaja, Beograd i dobri Amerikanac” (Kaya, Belgrade and the Good American).
The novel is a vivid depiction of Belgrade in the 1920s. In the novel, the narrator takes the role of an outside observer and, on occasions, an unnamed character in the story. With irony and humor, she tells of a merry world, which was unaware of the cataclysm that was brewing in Europe.

The plot centres on members of a small Buddhist community, who settled in Belgrade together with the Russians who were fleeing the October Revolution. At the time, the first Buddhist temple in Europe was being built in a Belgrade suburb by a small community of Kalmyks, a people of Mongol origin, whom the turmoil of the October Revolution had brought to Serbia.

In announcing the award, the jury stated “The novel by Mirjana Đurđević represents a significant contribution to contemporary literature of these regions”.

One of the previous laureates of the Meša Selimović Award and the chairman of this year’s jury, Croatian author Miljenko Jergović, said that the standard of the competition was particularly high this year and that any of the five nominated novels could have won in another year or in a different competition. “However, there is one winner and the decision was brought after a long deliberation, in an open discussion. There was no secret vote and the decision was unanimous,” he added.

The nominees for the award are selected by national committees in Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina who recommend books for the prize. Each committee selects five books. The jury then selects five books for the finals. This year, the finalists were three books printed by Serbian publishers, two from Bosnia and Herzegovina and one from Croatia.

The nominated novels this year were: “Pjesme divljih ptica” (Song of Wild Birds) by Enes Karić (Bosnia and Herzegovina),“Sedam strahova” (Seven Fears) by Selvedin Avdić (Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia); “Kaja, Beograd i dobri Amerikanac” (Kaya, Belgrade and the Good American) by Mirjana Đurđević (Serbia); “Tri slike pobede” (Three Images of Victory) by Zvonko Karanović (Serbia) and “Unterstadt” by Ivana Sojat Kuči (Croatia).

Upon receiving the award, Mirjana Đurđević said she was surprised and overwhelmed with joy, especially because of the fact that the four other nominated novels, in her view, “deal with far more serious issues” than her novel did. Nevertheless, the reviews of her book in the regional press are enthusiastic.

_______________________________________________________________

The “Meša Selimović” award is one of the most significant awards in the literary world of southeastern Europe.

Miljenko Jergović, who won the award in 2007, stated that he is particularly proud of having won because he considers it to be the best award for literature.

Another writer, Mirko Kovač, who was presented with the “Meša Selimović” award in 2008, believes it has a special meaning. “This is the award that values what has been written in a shared language, even after the joint language (of the former Yugoslavia) is no longer technically in existence,” Kovač said. He was born in Bosnia, completed his education and worked in Belgrade, Serbia, and is now living in Croatia.

The man after whom the award was named, Meša Selimović, a great writer and cultural figure, can be found everywhere in Bosnia and Herzegovina nowadays, although his home town of Tuzla treasures him the most. Schools, kindergartens, streets, squares and monuments carry his name.

Meša Selimović was one of the most important writers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also in the former Yugoslavia. He was born on 26 April 1910 in Tuzla. He grew up and was educated in Sarajevo, Tuzla (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Belgrade (Serbia).

He wrote many novels, the most important of which are “Derviš i smrt” (Dervish and Death) and “Tvrdjava” (Fortress). It was his ability to write in a way that is topical in all times and centuries that has left a special trace in his works.

The story of Meša could be ended by his best known quotation from the novel “Derviš i smrt”. According to Selimović, man loses because he cannot change time, stop it or make it go back. “I call as my witness time, the beginning and end of everything – which every man always loses to.”

_________________________________________________________________________________________________