Sasha Skenderija Explained

Sasha Skenderija
Birth Date:	4 July 1968
Birth Place:	Vitez, Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia
Known For:	Poetry Lyrics
Education:	University of Sarajevo Charles University
Occupation:	Poet Author

Sasha Skenderija (born 4 July 1968) is a Bosnian-American poet currently residing in Prague.

Biography

Skenderija began publishing poetry, prose and criticism in Bosnian (Serbo-Croatian) in the late 1980s, graduating from the University of Sarajevo in 1991. After surviving six months of the siege of Sarajevo, he fled to Prague, where he received a Ph.D. in Information Science from Charles University (1997). In 1999, with the help of translator and Cornell University linguistics professor Wayles Browne,^[1] Skenderija arrived in Ithaca, New York. He relocated to New York City in 2010 and lived in Astoria, Queens.^[2] He now lives in Prague, Czech Republic while working for the Czech National Library of Technology.^[3]

Skenderija is one of the most renowned Bosnian poets born since 1960, and his work confronts a range of experience, from the quotidian to the polemical, while pushing the boundaries of the genre.^[4] He ranks among the Bosnian poets with the most English-language reviews.^[5]

Works

Books of poetry (Bosnian)

• Golo O^[6]
• Kako naslikati žar-pticu^[7]
• Ništa nije kao na filmu^[8]
• Praški fraktali^[9]
• Zašto je patuljak morao biti ustrijeljen^[10]
• Rt Dobre Nade^[11]

Books of poetry (English translation)

• Why the Dwarf Had to be Shot.^[12]
• Cape of Good Hope^[13]

Poems in Anthologies

His poetry has been included in several Bosnian and Croatian anthologies and translated into Czech, English, Macedonian^[14] and Slovenian:^[15]

• Prague Tales: A Collection of Central European Contemporary Writing,^[16]
• Absinthe, New European Writing,^[17]
• There is Less and Less Space: Panorama of the Newest Bosnian Poetry (in Bosnian),^[18]
• Scar on the Stone: Contemporary Poetry from Bosnia,^[19]
• Conan Lives Here: Young Bosnian Poetry 1992-1996 (in Croatian),^[20]
• Messages from the Bottom of the Night: Literature of Bosnia and Herzegovina under Siege and in Exile (in Czech),^[21]
• The Passion of Difference/Dark Sound of Emptiness: Croatian Poetry of the 1990s (in Croatian)^[22]

English translations of his poems have also been included in:

• Balkan Visions and Silver Visions II,^[23]
• Witness^[24]
• Like a Fragile Index of the World: Poems for David Skorton^[25]
• Spirit of Bosnia^[26]
• The City That Never Sleeps: Poems of New York^[27]

Skenderija also contributed lyrics to three albums of the cult Sarajevo techno-industrial band SCH (VRIL, 2002; Eat This!, 2004; and Dance, 2007).

External links

• Author's web site
• Reading excerpt from Prague Fractals (link to video)
• Sasha Skenderija on Google Scholar

Notes and References

1. Book: Skenderija , Sasha . Wayles Browne . Why the Dwarf Had to be Shot. Black Buzzard Press. 2008. Austin, Texas. 96. 978-0-938872-39-9. Afterword (p. 90-92) and About the Translators (p.94) describe history of Skenderija/Browne collaboration.. Wayles Browne.
2. Book: Skenderija , Sasha . Wayles Browne . Cape of Good Hope. Tešanj: Centar za kulturu i obrazovanje. 2011. Tešanj, Bosnia. 47, [1], 47, [1] p. tête-bêche. 978-9958-792-78-6. The notes About the Author and About the Translators (p.47) describe Skenderija's recent whereabouts and history of Skenderija/Browne collaboration.. 732098431. Wayles Browne.
3. Web site: Organizational Structure . National Library of Technology . 19 May 2013 . dead . https://archive.today/20130616083640/http://www.techlib.cz/en/2512-organizational-structure/ . 16 June 2013 .
4. Book: Greene. Roland. Stephen Cushman . Clare Cavanagh . Jahan Ramazani . Paul Rouzer . Harris Feinsod . David Marno . Alexandra Slessarev. The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics 4th Edition. Princeton University Press. 2012. Princeton. 68. 978-0691154916. The entry on Bosnian poetry, page 68, by A. Vidan cites Skenderija as one of the most relevant contemporary Bosnian poets..
5. Book: Jones , Francis R. . Francis R. Jones. Poetry Translating as Expert Action: Processes, Priorities and Networks. John Benjamins Pub. Co.. 2011. Amsterdam, Philadelphia. 68. 978-9027-224-41-5. All three poets cited by Jones as having the most English-language reviews are currently living in North American diaspora..
6. Book: Skenderija , Saša . Golo O. Vojislav Petković . Todor Kršić . Adis Đubo . Banja Luka: Književna omladina. 1987. Banja Luka. 60. 455625924.
7. Book: Skenderija , Saša . Kako naslikati žar-pticu. Sarajevo: Svjetlost. 1990. Sarajevo. 61. 86-01-01603-0 . 441692561.
8. Book: Skenderija , Saša . Ništa nije kao na filmu. 1993. Prague. 55. 34084119.
9. Book: Skenderija , Saša . Praški fraktali. 1998. Online.
10. Book: Skenderija , Saša . Zašto je patuljak morao biti ustrijeljen. Tešanj: Centar za kulturu i obrazovanje. 2005. Tešanj, Bosnia. 103. 9958-792-43-5. 2005484212.
11. Book: Skenderija , Saša . Rt Dobre Nade. Tešanj: Centar za kulturu i obrazovanje. 2011. Tešanj, Bosnia. 47, [1], 47, [1] p. bilingual (Bosnian English) tête-bêche edition. 978-9958-792-78-6. 732098431.
12. Book: Skenderija , Sasha . Wayles Browne . Why the Dwarf Had to be Shot. Black Buzzard Press. 2008. Austin, Texas. 96. 978-0-938872-39-9. 310353449. Wayles Browne.
13. Book: Skenderija , Sasha . Wayles Browne . Rt Dobre Nade / Cape of Good Hope. Tešanj: Centar za kulturu i obrazovanje. 2011. Tešanj, Bosnia. 47, [1], 47, [1] p. bilingual (Bosnian-English) tête-bêche edition. 978-9958-792-78-6. 732098431. Wayles Browne.
14. Скендерија. Саша. March 2004. Портал: Гласник На Македонски Духовни Конаци. Портал: Гласник На Македонски Духовни Конаци. 9/10. 5.
15. Web site: COBISS/OPAC | sl.
16. Book: a'Beckett , John . Prague Tales: A Collection of Central European Contemporary Writing. 2007. New Europe Writers.
17. March 2006. Absinthe, New European Writing. Absinthe, New European Writing. 5. 2009-02-06.
18. Book: Grahovac , Željko . There is Less and Less Space: Panorama of the Newest Bosnian Poetry. 2000. Delta. Bihać. 9958-9744-4-4. 51282949.
19. Book: Agee , Chris . Scar on the Stone: Contemporary Poetry from Bosnia . Chris Agee . 1998 . Bloodaxe Books . UK . 1-85224-415-1 . registration.
20. Book: Jergović , Miljenko . Conan Lives Here: Young Bosnian Poetry 1992-1996. 1997. Durieux. Zagreb. 953-188-070-0. 38445829.
21. Book: Karpatský , Dušan . Messages from the Bottom of the Night: Literature of Bosnia and Herzegovina under Siege and in Exile. 1995. Mladá fronta. Prague. 80-204-0542-9. 36611543.
22. Mićanović. Miroslav. Branko Čegec. March 1995. Strast razlike, tamni zvuk praznine. Strast Razlike, Tamni Zvuk Praznine. 11. 5/6. 364–459. 2009-02-06.
23. 1995. 2005. Balkan Visions and Silver Visions II. Balkan Visions and Silver Visions II. VI.
    1. 48, #72
    . 364–459. 2009-02-06.
24. 2006 . Witness . Witness . XX . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090129173838/http://witness.blackmountaininstitute.org/archive.htm . 2009-01-29.
25. Fulton. Alice. Alice Fulton. Like a Fragile Index of the World: Poems for David Skorton. Like a Fragile Index of the World: Poems for David Skorton. 2006. 2009-02-06.
26. April 2008. Spirit of Bosnia. Spirit of Bosnia. 3. 2. 364–459. 2015-05-05.
27. Book: Toorawa , Shawkat M. . The City That Never Sleeps: Poems of New York. 2015. SUNY Press Excelsior Editions. Albany, New York. 978-1-4384-5615-7. 886672019.