Vida Brest (true name Majda Peterlin) (21 July 1925 – 10 November 1985) was a Yugoslav

Slovene-language Slovene ( or ) or Slovenian ( ; ) is a South Slavic languages, South Slavic language of the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. Most of its 2.5 million speakers are the ...

poet, writer, journalist, and teacher, best known for her

juvenile fiction Young adult literature (YA) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as family dysfunction, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality. It is characterized by simpler world build ...

, often based on her own experiences as a young

Partisan Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Ital ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Brest was born in

Šentrupert Šentrupert (; ''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 84.) is a village in the traditional Lower Carniola region in southeastern Slovenia. ...

Lower Carniola Lower Carniola ( ; ) is a traditional region in Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south an ...

in 1925. At the age of 17 she joined the

resistance movement A resistance movement is an organized group of people that tries to resist or try to overthrow a government or an occupying power, causing disruption and unrest in civil order and stability. Such a movement may seek to achieve its goals through ei ...

and after the end of the Second World War became a journalist and teacher. She later devoted herself to writing, her main inspiration being her own experiences during the war, but also wrote fairy tales and children's stories. From a very early age she also wrote poetry, with her first poems being published by the Partisan press during the war. A selection of her best poems was published posthumously in 1995, selected and edited by

Ivan Minatti Ivan Minatti (22 March 1924 – 9 June 2012) was a Slovene poet, translator, and editor. He started writing poetry before World War II but principally belongs to the first postwar generation of Slovene poets. He is one of the ...

. She won the

Levstik Award The Levstik Award () is a literary award in Slovenia awarded for achievements in children's literature. It has been bestowed since 1949 by the Mladinska Knjiga Publishing House, making it the first literary award established by a Slovene publishin ...

in 1984 for her book of stories from the resistance entitled ''Majhen človek na veliki poti'' (A Small Man on a Big Road).

Published works

Poetry

* ''16 pesmi Vide Brest'' (16 Poems of Vida Brest), 1944 * ''Pesmi'' (Poems), 1947 * ''Mihčeve pesmi'' (Little Miha's Poems), 1951 * ''Teci, teci, soncu reci'' (Run, Run, Tell the Sun), 1986 * ''Tiho, tiho srce'' (Silent, Silent Heart), (selected and edited by

), 1995

Prose

* ''Pravljica o mali Marjetici, zajčku, medvedu in zlati pomladi'' (The Story of Little Margaret, the Bunny, the Teddy, and the Golden Spring), 1951,1958 * ''Ptice in grm'' (The Birds and the Bush), 1955, 1961 * ''Orehovo leto'' (The Year of the Walnut), 1955, 1972 * ''Popotovanje v Tunizijo'' (A Trip to Tunisia), 1967 * ''Veliki čarovnik Ujtata'' (The Great Wizard Ujtata), 1974 * ''Prodajamo za gumbe'' (We Sell Buttons), 1976 * ''Majhen človek na veliki poti'' (A Small Man on a Big Road), 1983 * ''Mala Marjetica in gozdni mož'' (Little Margaret and the Forest Man), 1985 * ''Teci, teci, soncu reci'' (Run, Run, Tell the Sun), (selected and edited by

Niko Grafenauer Niko Grafenauer (born 5 December 1940) is a Slovenian poet, essayist, literary historian, editor and translator. He is particularly known as author of popular children literature, and for his active participation in the Slovenian public life, es ...

), 1986

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brest, Vida 1925 births 1985 deaths Yugoslav writers Slovenian children's writers Yugoslav Partisans members Levstik Award laureates Ethnic Slovene people Yugoslav women writers Slovenian women children's writers Slovenian women poets 20th-century Slovenian poets Communist women writers People from the Municipality of Šentrupert Women in the Yugoslav Partisans