Dragan Velikić

Dragan Velikić, born in Belgrade in 1953, grew up in Pula. He graduated in General Literature with a specialization in Literary Theory from the Faculty of Philology in Belgrade. From 1994 to 1999, he was the publishing director of Radio B 92. He wrote columns for "NIN," "Vreme," "Danas," "Reporter," and "Status." From June 2005 to November 2009, he served as the ambassador of the Republic of Serbia in Austria. He has published twelve novels, three story collections, seven essay collections, two monographs, and one book of selected interviews and a duodrama. Dragan Velikić's books have been translated into sixteen European languages, as well as Arabic and Persian, in 90 foreign editions. He has received several awards, including the NIN award for best novel of the year, the Meša Selimović award for the best book of the year, the Central European literary award, the Kočićevo pero award, the Vital award, the Kočićeva knjiga award, the award from the Institute for the Danube and Central Europe in Vienna, the City of Budapest award, the "Podrum Radovanović" award for lifetime achievement, and the European Vilenica award. He is an honorary member of the Hungarian Academy of Arts and Literature "Széchenyi." He lives in Belgrade and works as a freelance writer.