Miro Gavran
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Miro Gavran (Miro Gavran 1961) is a
Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
n writer of
short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...
,
fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...
and
drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...
. His works have been translated into 40 languages, making him the most translated Croatian writer, and his books have come out in 250 different editions at home and abroad. His dramas and comedies have had more than 400 theatre first nights around the world and have been seen by more than two million
theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...
attendants. He has served as president of
Matica hrvatska Matica hrvatska () is the oldest independent, non-profit and non-governmental Croatian national institution. It was founded on February 2, 1842 by the Croatian Count Janko Drašković and other prominent members of the Illyrian movement during ...
since 2021.


Early life

Gavran was born in Gornja Trnava,
PR Croatia The Socialist Republic of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Hrvatska, Социјалистичка Република Хрватска), commonly abbreviated as SR Croatia and referred to as simply Croatia, was a ...
, at the time part of
Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...
.


Writing career

He debuted in 1983 with the drama Creon's Antigone, speaking out forcefully about political manipulation. This was followed three years later by the drama Night of the Gods, the theme being the relationship between the artist and the powers-that-be under a totalitarian system. He then wrote a cycle of plays concentrating on male-female relations, in which his heroes were often great historical persons. He has created a series of complex female characters. His heroines are both strong and emotional. He has written 55 plays to date, including Death of an Actor, All About Women, All About Men, George Washington's Loves, Chekhov Says Good-Bye to Tolstoy, How To Kill The President, Greta Garbo's Secret, Laughing Prohibited, Parallel Worlds, Nora in Our Time, My Wife's Husband, Dr Freud's Patient, The Doll, Ice Cream, Beer, Your Every Birthday, Perfect Partner, etc. He has had twelve novels published: Forgotten Son, Hey, Love, How Dad Won Mom Over, How We Broke Our Legs, Klara, Margita or A Journey into a Former Life, Judith, John the Baptist, Pontius Pilate, The Only Witness to Beauty, Kafka's Friend and A Few Birds and One Sky along with two collections of short stories entitled Small Unusual People and Stories of Solitude. In his early novels, Gavran describes the life in the Croatian provinces, featuring everyday folk, anti-heroes of sorts, who retain a positive stance towards life even when they are confronted with injustice and major difficulties. This is perhaps best seen in his novel, Forgotten Son (1989), in which the central personage is a slightly mentally challenged young man of twenty. As a forty-year-old, Gavran started to write psychological-existential novels inspired by biblical characters, bringing them nearer to the sensibilities of contemporary readers. These books have been popular with both believers and non-believers, since their messages are universal. Gavran's books have been published worldwide. Gavran has received over 30 literary awards in Croatia and abroad, including the CENTRAL EUROPEAN TIME Award, given annually in Budapest to the best Central European author for the overall opus, as well as the EUROPEAN CIRCLE Award given to writers for the confirmation of European values in their texts. Gavran has also written ten books for children and young people: All Sorts of Things in My Head, How Dad Won Mum, Head Over Heels in Love, Happy Days, Farewell Letter, Plays with a Head and a Tail, Try to Forget, Plays for children, The Teacher of My Dreams and A Summer to Remember. These books have also found their way to adult readers.


Personal life and awards

Gavran earned his degree in dramaturgy at the Academy of Theatre, Film and Television in Zagreb. He first worked as a dramaturge and artistic director at the ITD Theatre in Zagreb (1986 – 1992). Since January 1993, he has been living and working as a freelance, professional writer. His theatre and prose texts have been included in numerous anthologies in Croatia and elsewhere, and his work is sometimes studied at universities. Since April 2014 Gavran has been a full member of the Russian Academy of Literature and since May 2014 an associate member of the Croatian Academy of Science and Art. In November 2016 he became member of the Slovene Literature and Arts Academy whose residence is
Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city ** Varna Province ** Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna ** Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis * Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy * Varna (Šabac), a village in Serbia Asia * Var ...
in
Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
. Gavran was given the “Dr Alois Mock Europapreis 2017” award in December 2017. The Alois Mock award has been handed since the early 2000s to notable individuals who, in the spirit of the European idea of community, have promoted European values and unity through their literary or journalistic work, activities in the public sector, in organizations or in business. He received the Decoration of Honour in Gold for Services to the Republic of Austria in Austrian Cultural Forum, Zagreb on March 20. It was awarded to him by the president of the Republic of Austria. He was named the first Tie Ambassador by the Academia Cravatica from Zagreb in September 2018. He is married to the actress Mladena Gavran, and they founded the GAVRAN Theatre in 2002. Their son Jakov is also an actor. Gavran has had a festival dedicated solely to his dramas and comedies in five different countries. The festival known as the GavranFest was founded in the city of
Trnava Trnava (, , ; , also known by other #Names and etymology, alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, to the northeast of Bratislava, on the Trnávka river. It is the capital of the Trnava Region and the Trnava District. It is the seat o ...
in Slovakia in 2003, moved to
Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...
in Poland in 2013, from 2016 to 2018 held in
Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
in the Czech Republic, in 2019 in
Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...
in Germany, and 2020
Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
, Serbia.


Novels

*''Forgotten Son'' *''Hey, Love'' *''How Dad Won Mom Over'' *''How We Broke Our Legs'' *''Clara'' *''Margite'' *''Judith'' *''John the Baptist'' *''Pontius Pilate'' *''The Only Witness to Beauty'' *''Kafka's Friend'' *''A Few Birds and One Sky''


Theatrical plays

*''1983. Creon's Antigone'' *''1986. Night of the Gods'' *''1988. George Washington's Loves'' *''1989. Chekhov Says Good-bye to Tolstoy'' *''1990. Royalty and Rogues'' *''1991. My Wife's Husband'' *''1993. Dr. Freud's Patient'' *''1994. Shakespeare and Elizabeth'' *''1995. Death of an Actor'' *''1997. Forget Hollywood'' *''2000. All About Women'' *''2003. How to Kill the President'' *''2005. Nora in Our Time'' *''2006. All About Men'' *''2007. Parallel Worlds'' *''2008. Greta Garbo's Secret'' *''2009. The Craziest Show in the World'' *''2011. Couples'' *''2012. The Doll'' *''2014. Ice Cream'' *''2015. Beer'' *''2016. The Patients'' *''2018. Your Every Birthday'' *''2020. The Perfect Partner''


References


External links


Official websiteGavran theatre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gavran, Miro 1961 births Living people Croatian novelists Croatian male novelists Croatian dramatists and playwrights Postmodern writers Presidents of the Matica hrvatska Academy of Dramatic Art, University of Zagreb alumni