(Dispossessed of her vast property on the island of Rab by...)
Dispossessed of her vast property on the island of Rab by the Communist authorities of Yugoslavia, 100-year-old Madonna lies on her death bed - finicky, frail and foul-smelling. Her nurse, Mali, thinks it a miracle, that she lives at all.
Slobodan Novak was a Croatian poet, short story writer, novelist, dramatist, essayist and literary critic. He also worked as a journalist and editor in newspapers, magazines and publishing houses, as well as director of drama at the Croatian National Theatre in Split.
Background
Ante Slobodan Novak was born on November 3, 1924 in Split, Kingdom of Yugoslavia (present-day Split, Croatia). He was the son of Duje Novak, a caterer, and Marija (Smoje) Novak. His mother died early, so he went to live with his aunt on Rab, an Adriatic island.
Education
In his early years, Slobodan attended the Catholic Seminary and state high school in Split but halted his studies at the outbreak of World War II, when Italy came to occupy Dalmatia. After a while, Novak completed his secondary education in Susak, near Rijeka. After he finished his studies, he joined the National Liberation Movement forces (Partisans).
Slobodan began writing in high school and continued to write through the two years between high school and college, sending his work to war newspapers. After the war, he attended the University of Zagreb, graduating with a degree from the Faculty of Philosophy in 1953.
Novak and his literary friends founded a literary journal, called "Izvor" ("The Source"), in 1948. He served as its editor and contributed articles to the publication. Two years later, he published his first volume of poetry, Glasnice u oluji, and joined the Drustvo hrvatskih knijizevnika (Society of Croatian Writers). After "Izvor" folded in 1951, Novak launched a new literary journal, titled "Krugovi" ("Circles"). This was an important journal to young Croatian writers, interested in modernist ideas and disenchanted with the dogmatic literature of the previous generation. Novak and his colleagues contributed Western-European inspired literature, essays and reviews. The journal occasionally printed translations of European works by writers, such as T. S. Eliot, Virginia Woolf and Boris Pasternak. Novak also worked as a journalist, writing for the Zagreb newspaper "Vjesnik" ("The Herald"). He published his second poetry collection, Pjesme, in 1953 with his friends and colleagues, Nikola Milicevic and Vlatko Pavletic, and published a collection of his own poems in a book, Iza lukobrana.
After this, Novak's career reached a turning point. From 1952 to 1954, he wrote prose fragments in literary journals. His first volume of short novellas, Izgubljeni zavicaj, was published in 1955. That year, he was appointed director of drama at the Croatian National Theater in Split. At this time, his writing became more autobiographical. Through the late 1950's and early 1960's, Novak served as an editor for the literary journal "Moguc'nosti" ("Possibilities"), the newspaper "Slobodna Dalmacija" ("Free Dalmatia") and the publishing house "Lykos." He also worked as a journalist at Radio Zagreb. He published his second prose volume, Tvrdi grad, in 1961; it was republished as Novele in 1962.
In 1960, Novak published his first dramatic text, Trofej, co-authored with Stjepan Perovic. The drama was performed over Radio Zagreb in 1964. Through the 1960's and 1970's, Novak had several of his fiction pieces adapted and performed at Radio Zagreb. From 1964 to 1983, Novak worked as an editor in the publishing houses "Zora" and "Naprijed." He published only two books during this period, Mirisi, zlato i tamjan and Izvanbrodski dnevnik.
In his later years, in 2001, Novak published a collection of interviews with Jelena Hekman in Digresije (Digressions). He then published Protimbe (Dissent) in 2003, which he considered as an expansion of Digresije.
Novak participated in World War II as a member of the National Liberation Movement (Partisans).
Views
Death and graveyards feature prominently in Novak's work. Novak was absorbed with the contrast between life and mortality, and his work is driven by a desire to understand human existence. His short stories also explore the psychological damage, incurred by war.
In his book, Izvanbrodski dnevnik, Novak is more revealing of his ethics and he makes his moral values and beliefs clearer. He expresses his awareness of the hidden ethical whirlpools inside the human mind and indicates his concern for the survival of human individuality.
Membership
Novak was a member of the Croatian Writers' Association and the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts
,
Croatia
1983
Personality
Quotes from others about the person
"By the complex body of work he has created, Novak has contributed immensely to Croatian literature and has rightfully become one of its most prominent writers." - Aldijana Sisic
Connections
Novak was married to Nada Nedeljkovic. They had two sons.
Father:
Duje Novak
Mother:
Marija (Smoje) Novak
Wife:
Nada Nedeljkovic
References
Contemporary Authors New Revision Series
In response to the escalating need for up-to-date information on writers, Contemporary Authors New Revision Series (Volume 198) brings researchers the most recent data on the world's most popular authors.
2010
DLB 181: South Slavic Writers Since World War II
Dictionary of Literary Biography provides reliable information in an easily comprehensible format, while placing writers in the larger perspective of literary history.