How was the book created and how long did you work on it?
I wrote the first few stories, some of which would later become part of “Pioneer Valley, Sarajevo”, back in early 2020 and shared them with only a small circle of people for months. A year later, I am publishing short stories on the Eiffel Bridge. Since the writing of each of them opened the door to something new that I wanted to say, I am starting to think about publishing a book that would include, in addition to these short stories, those that I considered too long for online forms. It turned out that the past year, when I was lucky enough to have Buybook accept my manuscript and the brilliant Almin Kaplan become the editor, was actually the period in which most of the book was created. So, the book was a couple of years in the making, but I worked intensively on it for about a year.
What is literature for you?
I see literature as a precious window into the lives, experiences and thoughts of other people. Reading books is a magic that allows me to explore real or fictional worlds, travel through time to the distant past or the promise of the distant future, enrich myself with knowledge that is otherwise impossible to reach. Literature is my refuge, a castle with high walls in which, since I learned to read, I hide from all kinds of mundane darkness and craziness.
Do you have any literary role models?
I would be overjoyed if I could write about my youth and family as truthfully, deeply and layered as the inimitable Danilo Kiš in "Bašta, peeo" and "Early grief".
What literary forms do you find most comfortable with?
So far I have only written short stories, but I think I would enjoy creating longer forms just as much. Especially since I often return to some memories that I believe could only be told as a novel.
Are you currently writing anything new?
As stories that want to exist continue to call me, I try to write at least a few lines every day. I think there are several ways that these segments that are currently emerging could be structured, but it is still early for those thoughts.
What does your writing process look like?
Since I live in the Asian part of Istanbul and work in the European part, my writing process actually begins in surreal traffic jams that sometimes last for hours. That's when the first lines of any story are formed in my head. Later, I'll turn on the computer and pull the keyboard to myself, knowing that the more important part of the work is already done.
Do you follow the domestic literary scene – and what do you mean by it?
Since I haven't lived in Bosnia for years and I don't even come that often anymore, I don't follow the local literary scene nearly as carefully as I should.
What are you reading right now?
"Never Leave Me" by Kazuo Ishiguro.
Choose one poem, by any poet.
Mustafa Zvizdić: At the chess tournament
IVANICA
Herzegovina landscape
Ideal for westerns
Father and boy enter
To an abandoned cowboy town
In the summer heat
A saloon and a watering hole for horses stand still
A little after noon
On the main and only street
Father's bandaged hand
Because of a burn from a car engine
The details are unreal and cinematic
Except for the boy's overwhelming fear
Bullets are coming from the future.
Who will miss it?