Jovan Nikolić (writer)
Jovan Nikolić ( born December 7, 1955 near Čačak, Serbia) is a living in Germany Roma writers.
Life
Nikolić was born the son of a Serbian Rome and a Serb from the majority population in a Roma settlement near the city of Čačak in Yugoslavia. His father served as a chapel alto saxophonist, who was involved in his mother as a singer. With them he spent his early youth mostly on trips. He was taught there by his mother. Later he attended the school in Čačak and then made from 1977 to 1979 trained as a mechanical engineer. Even during which, in 1977, he published his first poems in 1979 when he worked as a journalist for various Roma media. He received several literary prizes in Yugoslavia and a first international award at a literary contest in Lanciano. At the same time he criticized the Serbian great power ambitions in speech and writing, in particular against Slobodan Milošević. The NATO bombing of Serb cities also during the Kosovo War in 1999 prompted him to emigrate and to apply for asylum as persecuted writers. Since that time, Jovan Nikolić lives in Germany, most recently in Cologne, where he works with the Association eV Rome, especially in the school project for Roma children, " Amaro Kher " ( = Our house ): to introduce their culture to the children. In his work presentations assists him his partner Sigrun Reckhaus ( Heinrich Böll Foundation ) and at the opening to the events on the book for the city of Cologne in December 2011, his son David, because he had never learned so correctly in a course German. Now I speak a (!) Tarzan German.
Work and awards
Nikolić writes poetry, prose, song lyrics and plays in Romany, Serbo-Croatian and German language. His lyrics Bubamara is in the comedy film Black Cat, White Cat, which was the life of South Eastern European Roma addressed and honored at the International Film Festival in Venice in 1998, set to music. Already in 2000 his play was premiered ( with Ruzdija Russo Sejdovic ) Kosovo mon amour at the Ruhr Festival. Published in 2004 the book of poems rooms with wheel in German language. 2006 saw the publication of his translation work with short prose pieces, White Raven, Black Lamb, which was selected in 2011 for Cologne and surrounding areas as a book for the city.
From 1999 to 2005 he was Vice President of the International Romani Union. Since 2000 he has been Deputy Chairman of the International Romani Writers' Association ( Irwa ), which he co-founded. His goal is to initiate a library of Roma literature in the language of the Roma. He is also a member of the Serbian PEN Centre.
- 2007 Culture Contact Austria
- 2005 foundation Artists Schöppingen
- 2002 International House of authors (Graz ) ( Cultural City Network)
- 2000 Fellow of the Academy of Arts, Department of Literature
- 2000 P.E.N. Center Germany
- 1999 Heinrich Böll Foundation, stay at the Heinrich- Böll -Haus, Langenbroich
Works (selection)
- White Raven, Black Lamb. , Translation by Bärbel Schulte, Drava Verlag, Klagenfurt 2006, ISBN 3-85435-468-1. ( Special Edition Autumn 2011 for a book for the city )
- Rooms with wheel, poems and prose. Drava Verlag, Klagenfurt 2004, ISBN 3-85435-430-4.
- Soul catcher, silently noisily. Short prose, Drava Verlag, Klagenfurt 2011, ISBN 978-3-85435-644-8.
( A complete list, including those not yet translated works, see the author 's website)