Marko Tomaš

Milena Gosevski

Marko Tomaš was born in Ljubljana in 1978 and grew up in Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Kljajićevo, Sombor (Serbia). He is one of the best-known poets of the Western Balkan region. His highly political verse, which frequently clothes its sensibility in flippant gestures, has been compared to that of the young Leonard Cohen. Tomaš has published nine collections of poems as well as a volume of essays and collected newspaper columns. Most of his books have been published simultaneously by publishers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia and Serbia. In 2020 his novel “Nemoj me buditi” was one of the best-selling books in Croatia. Tomaš was editor of the magazine “Kolaps” and co-initiator of the Beton Music Festival in Mostar. In Split he managed the cult bookshop UTOPIA and organised the literary and music programme of the club Ghetto. He now lives in Mostar, Zagreb, Ljubljana and Belgrade. His work is awaiting discovery in German and English.

Publications (selection):
Nemoj me buditi, novel. LOM, / V.B.Z., 2019.
Trideset deveti maj. LOM, 2018.
Varanje smrti – izabrane pjesme. LOM, 2017.
Regata papirnatih brodova. LOM, 2016.
Crni molitvenik. LOM / Algoritam, 2015.
Varanje smrti – izabrane pjesme. LOM, 2014.
Ivica Osim – Utakmice života, biografija. Vrijeme, 2014.
Odrastanje melanholije – kolekcija pjesama i priča. Kontrast, 2014.
Bulevar narodne revolucije. Algoritam, 2013.
Zbogom, fašisti. buybook, 2009.
Marko Tomaš i druge pjesme. naklada ZORO, 2007.
Život je šala. Naklada Mlinarec & Plavić, 2005.
Mama, ja sam uspješan. Naklada Mlinarec & Plavić, 2004.
S rukama pod glavom. Naklada Mlinarec & Plavić, 2002.

Awards:
2020: the jury for the Dusan Vasiljev Prize in Serbia acclaimed his novel “Nemoj me buditi” as one of the three best books of the year
2017: “Reggata of paperboats” selected by Vecernji list, Zagreb, as one of the ten best books of the year in Croatia
2015: Person of the Year in the newspapers in Bosnia and Herzegovina
2014: Farah Tahirbegovic Prize

Festival Content

WELTKLANG – Night of Poetry

Weltklang – Night of Poetry is the opening in many voices of the poesiefestival berlin – this year in video format online. Poets from all parts of the world read, sing and perform in their seven native languages. They show the wealth of contemporary poetry, the diversity of its content, the wide range of its approaches and styles. The German translations will be faded in; many of the poems have been translated into German for the first time for Weltklang.

Ichiko Aoba • Marieke Lucas Rijneveld • Marko Tomaš • Chus Pato • Peter Waterhouse • Judith Zander • Ben Lerner • Hannah Lowe • Valzhyna Mort

Poetry Talk with Marko Tomaš

The poet, essayist and novelist Marko Tomaš from Bosnia and Herzegovina in conversation with Rachael Daum, his long-time translator into English: about writing in the pandemic, about the political and the private in poetry, about being on the road, being translated and the parallels between writing poetry and cooking.

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Marko Tomaš