Lana Derkač
POZEGA| CROATIA
about
LANA DERKAČ (1969) is a prominent, award-winning Croatian writer. She nurtures a very peculiar style of writing, combining the modernistic with the postmodernistic poetic discourse, intimacy with global apocalyptic phenomena endangering intimacy with astonishment at clips of reality. She talks of nature, the phenomenon of globalised world, ancient and contemporary urban mythology, virtual information space, apocalyptic world crises, deviant social relationships, incompatible people in love, and creative yet anxious inner worlds. She graduated from the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Philosophy. She has published some fifteen collections of poetry, prose, drama, essays and a novel in Croatia. Her work was published in a large number of Croatian and international newspapers, magazines and anthologies, It has been translated into 20 languages. She was awarded Zdravko Pucak Poetry Prize, Duhovno Hrasce Prize and Vinum et poeta Prize in Croatia and the Risto Ratkovic Award in Montenegro for the best poetry book in the region. She participated in various literary events, at home and abroad (Struga Poetry Evenings, Festival international et Marché de la poésie Wallonie-Bruxelles, Festival Internacional de Poesia in Granada, Stockholm International Poetry Festival…).
à propos
LANA DERKAČ (1969) est une écrivaine croate de renom récompensée par de nombreux prix. Elle a un style d’écriture très particulier, combinant le modernisme avec le discours poétique postmoderne, l’intimité avec des phénomènes apocalyptiques mondiaux qui la mettent en danger, dans d’étonnantes bribes de réalité. Elle parle de la nature, du phénomène du monde globalisé, de la mythologie urbaine ancienne et contemporaine, de l’espace d’information virtuel, des crises du monde apocalyptique, des relations sociales déviantes, de personnes qui s’avèrent incompatibles dans une relation amoureuse et de mondes intérieurs à la fois créatifs et anxiogènes. Elle est diplômée de la faculté de philosophie de l’université de Zagreb. Elle a publié une quinzaine de recueils de poésie, prose, théâtre, essais et un roman en Croatie. Son travail a été publié dans un grand nombre de journaux croates et internationaux, de magazines et d’anthologies, et il a été traduit en 20 langues. Elle a reçu le prix de poésie Zdravko Pucak, le prix Duhovno Hrasce et le prix Vinum et poeta en Croatie, ainsi que le prix Risto Ratkovic au Monténégro, qui récompense le meilleur livre de poésie de la région. Elle a participé à diverses manifestations littéraires, en Croatie et à l’étranger (soirées de poésie de Struga, Festival international et Marché de la poésie Wallonie-Bruxelles, Festival Internacional de Poesia à Grenade, Festival international de poésie de Stockholm…).
- Usputna raspela – Wayside Crucifixes (Vinkovci, 1995) – poetry
- Utočište lučonoša – Lightbearer’s Refuge (Zagreb, 1996) – poetry
- Eva iz poštanskog sandučića – Eve from Mailbox (Zagreb, 1997) – poetry
- Škrabica za sjene – The Chest for Shadows (Karlovac, 1999) – poetry
- Rezignacija – Resignation (Zagreb, 2000) – plays
- Osluškivanje anđela – Hearkening to Angels (Zagreb, 2003) – short stories
- Šuma nam šalje stablo e-mailom – The Forest Sends Us a Tree By E-mail (Zagreb, 2004) – poetry
- Striptiz šutnje – Silence’s Striptease (Zagreb, 2006) – poetry
- Tko je postrojio nebodere – Who Did Line Up the Sky-scrapers (Zagreb, 2006) – poetry
- Murmullo sobre el asfalto (Guadalajara, Mexico, 2008) – together with poet Davor Šalat – poetry
- Zastava od prašine – The Flag of Dust (Zagreb, 2009) – short stories
- Qui a mis en rang les gratte-ciels? et autres poèmes (Brussels, Belgium, 2010) – poetry
- Šah sa snijegom – A Chess Match Against Snow (Zagreb, 2011) – poetry
- Doručak za moljce – Breakfast for Moths (Zagreb, 2012) – novel
- من صفة ناطحات أصحاب.. و قصيده أخرى (Tunis, Tunisia, 2014) – poetry
- Strateg – The Strategist (Zagreb, 2015) – essays
- Posvajanje neba – Adopting the Sky (Zagreb, 2015) – poetry
- Ugovor s prašinom – Covenant With Dust (Bijelo Polje, Montenegro, 2017) – poetry selection
- Hotel za mrtve – Hotel For the Dead (Zagreb, 20209) – poetry
- Adresar smrti – Address Book of Death (Zaprešić, 2022) – stories
- Hoteli i të vdekurve (Prishtina, Kosovo, 2023) – poetry
Anthologies:
- Kairos in Zagreb (Zagreb, 2006) – poetry selection from International poetry festival (together with poet Davor Šalat)
- Third Word (Calicut, 2007) – Post – Socialist Poetry (together with Indian poet Thachom Poyil Rajeevan).
THE WORLD IS NEARING ITS END
The world is nearing its end, while the boy in a shortsleeve
tee and bermudas attempts
to tame wheat. Spying on its rites
connected with births and burials.
The tree in the yard is a black man. It has European origin
but African color of skinbark.
The neighbor lights a cigarette, waving with her hand,
slicing the smoke. She says: I’ve nurtured my trees
to grow slender, yet they became fat
like a listless housewife.
To grow forest like, but they took the traits
from my character.
The world is nearing its end.
Every time a mountain burps,
a volcano erupts somewhere.
The dormant Earth lifts its eyelid
and a chasm opens.
On the path from the yard to the mountain lurk
many surprises.
On the path fit a cavern
the Red Khmer and Revolution,
the American Marine.
While they all clutch weapons,
the Earth does not stop turning.
The Ire this morning changes God
holding the earth on its palm like a globe
which now and then He shakes
only because of the snow.
Se acerca el fin del mundo y el muchacho en camiseta
y en pantalones cortos, trata
de domesticar el trigo. Espía sus ceremonias
relacionadas con nacimientos y entierros.
El árbol del jardín es un negro. De origen europeo
y con corteza de color africano.
La vecina encendió un cigarrillo y mueve la mano,
corta el humo. Dice: Eduqué mis árboles
para que fueran delgados, y ellos engordaron
como amas de casa indiferentes.
Para que se parezcan bosque, ellos también tomaron
mis características.
El mundo se acerca a su fin.
Cada vez cuando la montaña eructa,
en algún lugar se activa un volcán.
La Tierra dormida alza el párpado
y se abre un cráter.
En el sendero desde el jardín hasta la montaña
acechan muchas sorpresas.
En ella está la gruta,
El khmer rojo y la revolución,
el marine estadounidense.
Mientras ellos se sostienen con las armas,
la Tierra no deja de girar.
La ira cambia a Dios
la sostiene sobre la palma de la mano
como a un globo que Él de vez en cuando sacude
sólo debido a la nieve.
CELESTIAL CAMERA
If you don’t fancy these clouds, we will roll out
another sky with a more cheerful design, says Davor,
the ever inspired salesman.
The sky itself sells the curtains, just before the storm
offering 70% discount on all samples from the old collection.
The river below it is all shiny and swelling,
even though the sky refuses to take care of it for three days already.
Guggling in the hotel pipes continues
its incomprehensible confession,
so I turn off the faucet preventing it from becoming the twin
of that magnificent river outside.
Depression is a sapling found in someone’s
family history.
Depression is a sapling left in a glass before the rain
so I warn Davor not to pity it for its languor,
reminding him no to succumb to its requests to change the water.
I say, your history speaks Czech, German,
Hungarian and Hurricane languages.
All of them sometimes express archetypal fury.
With each bolt of lightning the room lights up with celestial flash.
I’m guessing what will the journalist, having put down his camera,
ask the Earth.
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