Belgrade

  Belgrade

Belgrade, ancient city and the capital of Serbia, is situated beneath Mount Avala, at the mouth of the rivers Sava and Danube. It has always been an important trade centre and a goal for conquerors. It was a key city for the Romans, Byzantines, Ottomans, Habsburgs and others. This heritage is still present in many of the works of its writers and artists.

In modern times, writers in Belgrade have been inspired by themes of the big metropolis, the different regions of Serbia and from abroad. Prose writing has taken two major routes, one dedicated to Serbian history, and the other to dealing with more modern themes. Major novelists from Belgrade include Nobel prize winner Ivo Andrić, Danilo Kiš and Borislav Pekić. Currently the prominent writers are David Albahari, Svetislav Basara and Srđan Valjarević, among others.

The poetry scene is lively and has grown in influence in recent times. Miloš Crnjanski, Vasko Popa, Miodrag Pavlović, Borislav Radović, Milutin Petrović are all greatly admired and today Belgrade is proud of it's young voices such as Ana Ristović, Dragan Radovančević and others.Belgrade has always been a regional center for literary publications. There is the old and famous literary magazine Književnost and today there are many equally important literary magazines, such as Pismo, Poezija, Književni magazin, Treći Trg and Beogradski književni časopis. Belgrade always was and still is a centre for the publishing and performing of literature. Its International Book Fair is one of the biggest and most visited events in the region.  


News

New Word Express participant Hywel Griffiths sent us English translations of three of his poems. You can read them here alongside the originals.
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If you've been wondering what Word Express writers have been working on recently, you'll be pleased to hear that Owen Martell's novel 'Dyn Yr Eiliad' has been translated into Serbian by Milan Dobričić's Read the full story here.

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Using photography and music from our multi-talented Word Express writer-travellers, we've put together this short slide show with music from Ivan Hristov's band Gologan.

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