''Sarajevo Blues'' is a book of poetry first published in 1992 during the

siege of Sarajevo The Siege of Sarajevo ( sh, Opsada Sarajeva) was a prolonged blockade of Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the Bosnian War. After it was initially besieged by the forces of the Yugoslav People's Army, the city was then ...

Semezdin Mehmedinović Semezdin Mehmedinović (born 1960 in Kiseljak is a Bosnian writer and magazine editor. After studying Librarianship and Comparative Literature in Sarajevo, he worked as an editor of "Lica" and "Valter" magazines, which served as a voice of opposi ...

. Mr. Mehmedinović's book was translated into English by

Ammiel Alcalay Ammiel Alcalay (born 1956) is an American poet, scholar, critic, translator, and prose stylist. Born and raised in Boston, he is a first-generation American, son of Sephardic Jews from Serbia. His work often examines how poetry and politics affe ...

in 1998. Mehmedinović's text was translated into music by Jewlia Eisenberg in 2004.

The Book of Poetry by Semezdin Mehmedinović

In ''Sarajevo Blues'', Semezdin Mehmedinović tells the story of a city under siege. The poet lived in the city and tells the story of resistance to nationalistic fervor. This book was part of the Biblioteka series, which gave a forum to Bosnian writers who were either living under siege like Mehmedinović or living in exile. The Washington Post described the book of poetry as "widely considered here to be the best piece of writing to emerge from this besieged capital since Bosnia's war erupted".

The CD by Charming Hostess

In the

Charming Hostess Charming Hostess is a band that grew out of the avant-rock scene of Oakland, California, in the mid-1990s. Current work The music of Charming Hostess primarily springs from three women with an emphasis in the body—voices and vocal percussio ...

CD Jewlia Eisenberg continues her tradition of arranging music and text from the Jewish, African, and Bosnian Diasporas. This time setting the text of Mehmedinović, Charming Hostess sings of genocide and nationalism, freedom under siege, the nature of evil, and resisting war by any means necessary. The work explores Mr. Mehmedinović's text through a lens that includes Jewish, Balkan and Sufi musical influences.

External links

English edition of the bookGerman edition of the bookCharming Hostess / ''Sarajevo Blues''
1992 poetry books Poetry collections Postmodern novels Siege of Sarajevo {{poetry-stub