Presenting Anita Martinac’s latest novel at the headquarters of the Croatian Heritage Foundation were Ante Beljo, Ivan Tolj, Lejdi Oreb, Robert Kurbaša and the author.
Grad bez ptica (“The City Without Birds”) is a novel published by the Mostar-based Croatian World Congress Centre for the Study of Totalitarianism. The 229-page, 45-chapter tome offers the protagonists’ view of unique and individual destinies. The storyline is chronological and takes place from early 1990 to the first half of June 1992.
The novel, penned by Anita Martinac, was presented at the headquarters of the Croatian Heritage Foundation on 20 February and promoted by Ante Beljo, Ivan Tolj, Lejdi Oreb, Robert Kurbaša and Ms Martinac.
Anita Martinac (née Mihić) was born on 7 March 1973 in Mostar where she lives and works. She earned a degree at the University of Mostar’s School of Law and is a veteran of the Homeland War. Ms Martinac is a member of the Croatian Writers’ Association, the Croatian Writers’ Association of Herceg-Bosna, the Čitluk chapter of Matrix Croatica, the Association of Croatian Women, the Mostar chapter of the Napredak Croatian Culture association, the Croatian Lyricism Abroad association, and is the president of the Croatian World Congress Centre for the Study of the Consequences of Totalitarianism in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Her work published to date includes the poems Krvari brig (“The Bloody Hill”, 1994), Ljubim te pjesmama (“Loving You In Songs”, 2012), U pogledu (“In View Of”, 2012), U susret Riječi (“Towards Language”, 2013), Druga riječ je ljubav (“The Other Word is Love”, 2014), and the novels Medaljon (“Medallion”, 2015), Posljednji (“The Last One”, 2016), Od Franje do Franje (“From Francis to Francis”, 2017), and Grad bez ptica (“The City Without Birds”, 2019).
The plot of the latest, intriguingly titled novel takes place in Martinac’s home town of Mostar, in the toughest years of the transition from communism to a democratic society, marred by conflict and war. In a tightly woven and fascinating tale of war and politics Martinac offers the reader a key to understanding the present moment by reviewing our recent history. All of the characters are real people, as are the events of which she writes. The literary critics note that Martinac, the recipient of multiple prizes for her work, has enriched Croatian literature. (https://anitamartinac.com/)