The novel "Return to Zejrek" by a Montenegrin author Vladimir Jaćimović was shortlisted last week for the Nino Award for Novel of the Year, as one of 13 finalists, before the shortlist.
Jaćimović's first literary work was published by the publishing house "Arhipelag" from Belgrade, in the prose edition "Zlatno runo".
"Return to Zejrek" is also among the most read Archipelago publications of the past year, along with some of the cult writers such as Danila Kiša... In the text "Books we will return to" published on January 17, Politika singled out Jaćimović's novel as one of the "most beautiful surprises on the domestic literary scene".
"With his first novel and his first published work in general, Vladimir Jaćimović announced with his rich literary style that he could be seriously counted on," noted the author of the text. Gordana Popović.
It is an exciting novel that takes place in contemporary Turkey, on the eve of the last military coup in 2016, the description points out. The plot follows a high-ranking officer of the Turkish army, Ilker Bozkurt, who is involved in a network of spy games and family histories... In an interview with "Vijesti", Jaćimović reveals that his novel is based on two intersecting stories. In addition to the one about Ilker Bozkurt, the second is about unknown painters who came to our region from Constantinople in the 13th century and left behind frescoes of great value, some of which have been preserved to this day...
"Over time, it will be shown that Bozkurt's family moved from Sandžak to Turkey, immediately after the First World War, but also that he was chosen by the conspirators to carry out an attack on Erdogan (President of the Republic of Turkey). Jaćimović unusually precisely and with great storytelling power portrays contemporary Istanbul, where most of the action of the novel takes place, as well as Moscow, where for a time the main hero of the novel is on (sensitive) service," the description of the novel adds.
At the same time, the protagonist will begin to search for his own and his family's origins, which moved from the Balkans to Istanbul. Chief editor of Archipelago Gojko Božović, reveals that the protagonist of the novel is torn between a sense of duty and the role that the army has played for decades, as the guardian of the secular Ataturk's heritage in Turkish society. In addition, Božović points out that what he additionally recommends to readers is "Return to Zejrek" and the depiction of a postcard of Istanbul, but also of Moscow and parts of the Balkans, as well as elements of thrillers, family, love and professional dilemmas...
Jaćimović was born in 1973 in Nikšić, lives and works in Podgorica as a professor of mathematics at the University of Montenegro and is the author of a large number of scientific articles on mathematical physics and bifurcation theory, as well as textbooks on linear algebra.
Vladimir Jaćimović talks about his novel for "Vijesti".
With your debut "Return to Zejrek" published by a renowned publishing house, you are shortlisted for Nino's award for the novel of the year. How significant and good is this beginning of a literary career, if you can say so? Regardless of the outcome, how important is it to you that you were immediately selected for the Nino Award, and what are your expectations?
I am glad that my novel was published by Archipelago publishing house. This in itself provides a certain visibility to the novel, as well as a recommendation to readers, because Archipelago has a reputation for paying great attention to reading and is guided solely by the quality of the writing when compiling the publishing plan. As for being shortlisted for Nino's award, I have to say that the whole process is fun for me, I hear more and more comments and reviews on what I wrote. That situation stimulated my interest in the other novels that entered the wider and narrower selection. So, it's all good to me, no matter how it goes.
How long was this novel in the making and how did the theme crystallize?
I wanted to write a novel since childhood. Two years ago, the right moment for that came. Gradually, a story formed in my head. I put it on paper in dashes and occasionally thought about it, questioned it. Then I shared that story with some close people. Once I was convinced that the story was complete and believable, I made a precise narrative plan and started writing. I worked on the novel at a leisurely pace for about ten months, during which time I read more than usual good literature. My novel is based on two intersecting stories. One is about unknown painters who came to our region from Constantinople in the 13th century and left behind frescoes of great value, some of which have been preserved to this day. The second story is about a modern man who is forced by certain temptations to return to that art and look for messages for himself in it.
I assume you write anyway. Do you have, perhaps, any other unpublished manuscripts?
I don't write regularly. For a long time before this novel, I had not tried to write anything. 15 years ago I wrote a short novel, I still have that manuscript. However, after I finished that manuscript, I realized that it didn't turn out very well. Two of my friends who read that manuscript praised me, but also pointed out some fundamental shortcomings. I learned some lessons from that and gave up writing until a more convenient moment. And, well, the opportune moment came in 2020. I guess I've matured as a writer in the meantime.
In the description of the novel, it is emphasized that the exciting plot is set in modern Turkey on the eve of the military coup in 2016. Your protagonist, a high-ranking officer of the Turkish army, is involved in a network of spy games and an intriguing family history that he will learn and slowly discover. But before we get to that, how would you present the novel "Return to Zejrek", what will (future) readers find in it?
I would say that it is a personal story, about a 56-year-old man who finds himself at a dead end in his life and in a very dangerous situation. All this makes him start to question his life and relationships with close people. In other words, he is looking for truth and falsehood in his life, something he can believe in and rely on. And then the story unfolds far back, to the time of his youth and childhood, and even further. He explores his roots and family history. Second, it is a story about identity, but in the broadest sense of the word. When all the compromises and half-lies he's based his life and career on collapse, there's little left of real worth. That bit is his essential identity. And he must act accordingly in a difficult situation.
It is a real rarity that local writers set the action of their novels in a distant city, while describing other cultures and habits, noted Archipelago editor Gojko Božović. You already did that in the first novel, the plot of which is set in contemporary Istanbul, and Moscow will also be found on the life path of the main character, and thus of the novel. How did it come about?
As I said, the origin of my novel is the story of the painters who came to our region from Constantinople and left behind great works of art. Furthermore, I needed a modern man who discovers this art for himself and finds in it something that is important to him. I think the solution that the man is from Istanbul is very good. In addition, it is known that during the 20th century many people from our region moved to Istanbul. Finally, Istanbul is a very inspiring place to set the stage for a rich plot. Another inspiring place is Moscow, especially considering the complexity of Russian-Turkish relations. All this naturally gets involved in the life of the main character, he grows up in Istanbul, lives in Ankara, but spent an important period of his life in Moscow. Finally, in search of a family story, he comes to the Balkans.
Considering the characteristic climate and rich tradition and culture, as well as the recent events around which the plot unfolds, how much attention and research was needed, as well as personal contact with that world? Was it and how demanding was it to get into that topic, which has not been on the domestic literary scene for a long time?
I'm not an expert on Turkey and I don't know the Turkish language. Nevertheless, I have been following the news from that country for decades, some articles, some historical books. When I go to Istanbul, I can feel how that metropolis breathes, I understand its tensions and contrasts. I have only read from their writers Orhan Pamuk, but also how it helps to better understand Turkish society. After all, that country is not far from us, there are numerous connections and we have many common stories. Overall, I think I have a pretty good understanding of their narratives, divisions, dilemmas, and issues. That's the general context, and when it comes to some specific details, it's easy now, of course, thanks to the Internet. It is easier for me to write about Turkey than about our country. It's the superiority of the outsider's view, when it's about a drama I can understand, but I'm not involved in it. Then I am freed from personal frustrations, resentments and all that I could not avoid if I wrote about our problems and divisions.
The knowledge that (re)connects the protagonist Ilker Bozkurt and Erdogan in an extremely specific way and through an important task provides a special adrenaline rush to the novel. What is Turkey, that is, Istanbul in 2016, in the senses and mind of your hero, and how many books touch on the turbulence in Turkey at that time, and how much is actually an intimate and individual story?
I wanted this to be an intimate and personal story of a fictional hero, and I think I succeeded in that. However, Istanbul 2016 is the context in which the story unfolds. For our hero, it is a time in which the tension is constantly increasing, until the point of bursting. He is drawn into this dangerous game in an immediate way and against his will.
Is Erdogan also a character in the novel or is he only mentioned and, considering his position as president, and all later or current events, how complex was it to build part of the plot around him?
The Turkish president does not appear in this novel, except that some of the heroes mention him in their conversations. Some of them hate him, some of them support him, but that's just talk. I would like to emphasize that in my novel I do not judge, criticize anyone and do not interfere in Turkish political problems. I think that such things should not be done in literature. It's just someone else's politics, and politics is an unpleasant thing everywhere in the world. It is not for me to judge who is wrong and who is right.
Ilker Bozkurt, in addition to the task for Erdogan, is questioning the origin of his family. It turns out that his family moved from Sandzak to Istanbul, which makes the novel even more interesting, with a touch of mysticism intertwined around Bozkurt's forgotten roots and repressed memory of his grandmother's language. Where does this search for origins lead and to what extent does it actually reflect the need of man to clearly define his identity or create it himself?
Well, when a man finds himself on a serious trial, when he has difficult dilemmas, then the need to clearly define his identity arises by itself. I repeat, we are talking about identity in a broad sense, meaning by that term everything that is important to a person and in which he can believe.
Will Bozkurt, along with Istanbul and Turkey, Moscow and Russia, get acquainted with the Balkans and what will he conclude or, in order not to reveal, what dilemmas and questions will this prompt him to?
Our hero will be looking for a fresco that has remained hidden somewhere deep in the Balkans. That fresco will serve as a guide for him, as proof that a fairy tale he heard in his childhood is actually true. Thus, he will relate a dramatic story that led to him being born in Istanbul.
The love elements in this novel were not neglected either, which additionally shed light on the inner struggles of the main character. Is there a catch or is love (was) an indispensable element of life without which the novel is incomplete? How important are his romances because of the different paths and plot lines?
Yes, since it's a personal story, that's the key question of the novel, an absolutely unavoidable part of the story. When our hero examines his life, he is perhaps most interested in whether there was real, sincere, reciprocated love in him. Or was there a lot of acting and compromise in every relationship? Finally, the question is whether these relationships can be preserved and restored, despite the fact that some lies have been exposed? Can it all be swallowed and create some basis for further life?
Duality is, it seems, omnipresent. In addition to Istanbul and Turkey, internal struggles and torn between what Ilker thinks he is and what makes him who he is, family and work, marital secrets and identity issues, there is also Moscow, where he served, and later the Balkans. .. It seems that you put special emphasis on different sequences of personalities, on different cultures, traditions, beliefs, peoples, perceptions and that through them it is necessary for both the hero and perhaps the reader to face himself, but also to come to terms with it and get peace?
Given the nature of the protagonist's job, nationality is important. However, his main aspiration is to find himself, to find the boy in himself from 50 years ago and to see what is left of that boy. And it has little to do with nationality, it goes much deeper than that.
Can we expect a continuation of your manuscript or the publication of a new one? Are you currently working on something or is it time to present and promote "Return to Zejrek"?
I'm not writing right now. I thought I would finish writing with this novel, because I'm not a professional writer after all, and it's a job that requires patience and energy. However, everything that happened after the release was interesting to me. Many people read it, I received many praises from the audience and critics, as well as some complaints. Some old friends I haven't seen in 20 years or more have called. It's all interesting to me to hear, it's like a game. Not to mention the fact that there is a possibility that the novel will be published in some other countries and that it will interest the readers there. Because of all this, it now seems to me that I will write another novel during this year or the next. Now I know how to do it and can estimate how long it might take. Also, I imagine the publishing process would be less demanding now.
Would you like to add something?
Since childhood I wanted to write a good novel. Now I finally did it. When I say good, I mean I'm happy with how it turned out. Besides, a lot of people liked it. Finally, my novel was published by a publisher whose books I enjoy reading myself. All this is a great success for me and that is enough for me. This is when you want to do some demanding work, to realize some of your talent. And then you find the time and will to dedicate yourself to it, so you succeed and finish everything so that you are satisfied with the result. Then you get readers' impressions and follow them with interest. In such a situation, even criticism is not unpleasant, it is all instructive and interesting to hear. The important thing is to mostly enjoy it.
The novel "Return to Zejrek" can be found in bookstores throughout Serbia, as well as in bookstores of the National Book in Montenegro.
Imagination is equally important in mathematics and in literature
Given that you are a professor of mathematics and a physicist, although it is not unusual that writing and literature are also among your preoccupations, I assume that this is exactly what attracts the attention of most readers. Would you like to discover where your interest and desire to write came from? How do mathematics, physics and literature correspond or maybe they don't have so many points of contact?
Researchers in mathematics and theoretical physics also create narratives. If you're writing a mathematical text, you're also setting the scene, weaving the plot and then sort of unraveling it. In a sense, it's like telling a story too. And more broadly, composing music, painting, it's all similar. Creative act. You have a clean sheet of paper and you have something in your head. You need to plan everything and transfer it from your head to paper. Or you have a blank canvas and you need to transfer an image from your head onto it. Or you have silence and you need to fill it with music. Imagination plays a key role in all of this, it is equally important in mathematics, literature, music...
Publishing was harder than writing, patience is key
After the writing process, how was the process of publishing the novel, if you could share it with the readers? Have you negotiated with some Montenegrin publishing houses and how can the Montenegrin audience get their copy of the novel?
I won't go into details, but I can say that the publishing process was unexpectedly challenging for me. It turned out to be perhaps even more difficult than writing, because I expected problems while writing, but I thought that publishing would be easier. Before I came to Archipelago, I had conversations with several publishers from Montenegro and Serbia. Now there are many manuscripts and publishers and critics do not have time to read them. I had all these difficulties despite the fact that I am a full-time university professor and have numerous connections and acquaintances. At one point I wanted to publish the novel myself, as an author's edition, but my friends convinced me to be persistent and look for a reputable publisher. If an unestablished writer from Montenegro were to write a good novel now, I would recommend him to arm himself with patience and try in Serbia (and maybe Croatia).
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