Bazdulj, Muharem 1977-

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Bazdulj, Muharem 1977-

PERSONAL:

Born 1977, in Travnik, Yugoslavia (now Bosnia and Herzegovina). Education: Graduated from Sarajevo University.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

CAREER:

Writer and journalist. BH Dani, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, writer, 1996—.

WRITINGS:

One Like a Song (short-story collection), Sahinpasic (Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina), 1999.

The Travnik Trinity (short-story collection), [Bosnia and Herzegovina], 2002.

Koncert (novel), V.B.Z. (Zagreb, Croatia), 2003.

The Second Book, Northwestern University Press (Evanston, IL), 2005.

Contributor to periodicals, including BH Dani, Feral Tribune, Zarez, and Vreme.

SIDELIGHTS:

Muharem Bazdulj is a Bosnia-Herzegovinian writer and journalist. Born in Travnik, Yugoslavia (now Bosnia and Herzegovina), in 1977, Bazdulj went on to graduate from Sarajevo University with a degree in English and American literature. Since 1996, Bazdulj has written for the Sarajevo-based BH Dani. He periodically writes for neighboring countries' newspapers, including Feral Tribune, Zarez, and Vreme. Bazdulj published his first short-story collection, One Like a Song, in 1999. He also published The Travnik Trinity in 2002. The following year, he published his first novel, Koncert.

In an interview on Bookslut, Bazdulj described his biggest inspirations of his writing. He stated: "People generally presume that writer is able to ‘choose’ his or her influences. It seems to me, however, that usually it is the other way round. I was born in Travnik, a pretty small town in Bosnia, famed throughout the Balkans and Europe for its historical significance and as the hometown of Ivo Andric, Nobel Prize winner in literature. Andric died two years before I was born and I consider him as one of my major influences. I must also mention Danilo Kis, Jorge Luis Borges, Paul Auster, Milan Kundera, to name just a few. Such lists are always incomplete. I also want to point out that, for a writer in our time, these influences do not come only from literature … and I do not want to forget: U2, Nick Cave, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, Wim Wenders, Clint Eastwood, Woody Allen … "

First published in 2000, The Second Book, was translated into English and published by Northwestern University Press in 2005. Robert Murray Davis, reviewing the short-story collection in World Literature Today, commented that "readers looking for a sober examination of the Bosnian situation should look elsewhere. Those expecting an artful and ingenious look at the ways in which the mind can work will read The Second Book with great care and greater delight."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Slavic and East European Journal, summer, 2006, Cynthia Simmone, review of The Second Book, p. 343.

World Literature Today, March 1, 2006, Robert Murray Davis, review of The Second Book, p. 53.

ONLINE

Bookslut,http://www.bookslut.com/ (March 4, 2008), author interview.