In a Sentimental Mood

Born in Vukovar in 1982, Ivana Bodrozic lives in Zagreb, Croatia. In 2005, she published her first poetry collection, Prvi korak u tamu (The First Step Into Darkness) as part of the Goran Award for Young Poets. Her first novel Hotel Zagorje (Hotel Tito) was published in 2010 and went on to be a Croatian best-seller; the French edition won the prestigious Prix Ulysse for best debut novel. She has also published the poetry collection Prijelaz za divlje zivotinje (A Road for Wild Animals) and the short story collection100% Pamuk (100% Cotton). Her novel The Pit was awarded the Balkan Noir Prize for best crime novel. Bodrozic’s work has been translated into English, German, French, Czech, Danish, Slovenian, Hungarian, Spanish, Italian, and Macedonian. Ellen Elias-Bursac translates fiction and non-fiction from Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian, including Ivana Bodrozic’s novel The Hotel Tito. Her translation of David Albahari’s novel Götz and Meyer was given the 2006 ALTA National Translation Award. She is the president of the American Literary Translators Association. Born in 1964, Damir Sodan is a Croatian poet, playwright, editor, and translator. His notable poetry translations into Croatian include the work of Leonard Cohen, Charles Bukowski, Raymond Carver, Charles Simic, Richard Brautigan, and Frank O’Hara. He divides his time between The Hague, the Netherlands and Split, Croatia.