Poets' Square Completed: Why the Novel "All the Good Barbies" Wins Over Readers

The literary program of the XXXIX Grad Teatar festival ended last night at Poet's Square with a guest appearance Katarina Mitrović who presented her novel "All the Good Barbies".

The evening's moderator was a poet, prose writer, and editor. Zvonko Karanovic. The conversation included a detailed presentation of the author's literary journey, the theme of the novel and the process of its creation, with a review of the reception and dramatization of the text.

At the beginning of the evening, Karanović reminded the audience of the specificity of the author's professional path, and Mitrović responded that she is a screenwriter by profession and that it pays her bills.

"I started writing poems, but I don't write them now. I've completely switched to prose, because writing scripts for series and films is in a way prose with different rules, reduced and simplified, but still similar. I find both interesting and love them. I see screenwriting as a profession. I work when I want, when I feel like it, it pays my bills. I see writing novels differently, I allow myself to work when I have inspiration and the conditions for it," said Mitrović.

Karanović then opened up about the novel, reminding us that it is often said that every novel can be retold in one sentence, to which Mitrović replied:

"Before I published the book, Yellow Bozarovska asked me to say in three words what the book is about. I couldn't right away. If I had to sum it up in one sentence, I would say it's the story of a lost millennial trying to survive as an independent artist in Belgrade, dealing with her relationships and herself, and struggling with mental health, depression and anxiety"...

Speaking about the main character Vanja, Mitrović pointed out that she is a woman-girl.

"I liked it when I read some of the novels Biljana Jovanovic, so at the end there was a description of the main character in some afterword and then it said that she was a woman-girl. And that stayed in my memory and I liked it a lot because, while I was writing this character Vanja, I felt like she was a woman-girl. She is turning 30, and all the time she feels like she is 15. People expect her to earn money, to live, to go to work, to find a boyfriend, to start a family, and she can't. She is helpless, fragile, vulnerable, but she hides it with some kind of fierceness and rawness. At the same time, she is very gentle"...

When asked whether the heroine is representative of the current generation or is an exclusively individual story, the author replied that in a way she is.

"I was thinking about what the characteristics of my generation are and I realized that anxiety and insecurity in every field are certainly one of the main characteristics, because we can hardly provide any security. First of all, in terms of living, it is very difficult to buy an apartment. As an independent artist in Serbia, you can't even get a loan. As a screenwriter, I don't have permanent jobs, they are very uncertain. Love relationships, everything has become very fluid, uncertain, nothing is certain. I think that causes a high level of helplessness, anxiety, loneliness, and loss. And when I thought about the characteristics of my generation, even though I thought that these were the characteristics of my generation, I wanted to pass that on to her"...

Karanović recalled the dramatic introduction of the novel and asked how much knowledge of dramaturgy helped in writing, to which Mitrović replied:

"In college, we learned how to open a scene in a film or series, how to build characters, plots, and twists. I use that experience in writing novels, but I try to keep screenwriting and literature separate," she said, after which she explained the novel's title.

"The title came from a scene from my childhood, when I remember the bombing and the toys in the basement. The loss of good Barbies became a metaphor for expectations and values. What it means to be a "good Barbie" and what is the relationship to the pressures and rules of society. I think it is mostly related to some expectations."

Speaking about the personal experience that led to the creation of the novel, Mitrović revealed that there was a personal moment in her life when she experienced a breakdown and had to return to her hometown.

"I felt really defeated, like I had failed, like I was going through a lot of torture. I felt unsuccessful and defeated, because at that moment I had graduated from college, I started working... then I realized that I was writing series that I didn't want to write, just so I could make a living from them, and I got sick of it because I wanted to write and write what I wanted, not what others told me. And then I radically decided to draw the line and start turning down jobs that I didn't want to write. And that really brought me to the edge of existence and I had to go back to the city where I grew up, which I left full of the desire for a different life, to get a job in a cafe, to do many things that I didn't think I wanted to. And at that moment I decided that I was going to write a book the way I wanted to, without any pressure, without thinking about money"...

The audience also had the opportunity to hear about the theatrical adaptation of the novel, produced by the company "Hartefakt".

"It will be performed next season in Belgrade. I did not participate in writing the play, they let me read the text and I made a few comments, but I did not want to interfere. I liked the premiere, and the play is getting great reviews."

In the rest of the evening, the author's plans regarding the novel "All Good Barbies" were also discussed. She announced the possibility of screening.

"I have an offer to make a movie based on this book. A director and producer called me and asked me to write the script. Since I needed to hand it off to someone else because I had already spent a lot of time with this book and when I published it, I felt a real sense of relief like - it's over, this crazy woman and this book are gone from me. But he asked me that he would really like it, so I started writing, but it's going slowly. I only wrote the scene sequence."

The conversation then turned to the book's impact, which has not lost public attention even after its publication. The moderator recalled that the novel had already had several editions, was shortlisted for awards, and that the author had given a large number of interviews and made guest appearances in the region. When asked how she viewed this success, the author replied:

"I always think I could have done better, but I can't think about it retroactively now so I wouldn't have to struggle. What I loved most was when people started contacting me on social media, strangers who had read the book and then started sharing their stories with me, whether they were about life or mental health issues, anxiety, depression, and the like. That was the most meaningful to me because they said it made them feel less lonely. It was also interesting to me when men wrote to me and said: I feel the same way, it doesn't matter that I'm a man. That kind of comfort was the most meaningful to me."

The evening continued with questions from the audience. The first question was about the possibility of catharsis when dealing with depression and anxiety, or whether it is overcome suddenly, through some kind of epiphany, or whether the process takes place imperceptibly, by accepting fluidity.

"There is a way, at one point, although I won't reveal the exact ending now, but I didn't want everything to suddenly become different in the end - for her to tidy up her room, do everything and get out of depression. I think it's a slow process that takes time. Still, I wanted to see a glimmer of light and a path to betterment. That's what I wanted in the end, to provide some kind of hope, but without a sweet ending and without complete darkness. So, to give hope and show that she will be okay," Mitrović replied.

This was followed by a question about the attitude of contemporary authors towards the "comfort zone", given that in recent years, numerous authors have been heard at Poets' Square who openly write and talk about personal experiences. Professor of Literature Bozena Jelušić asked how the author interprets this phenomenon and how personal experience can be the subject of a literary work. The second part of the question referred to growing up in the 1990s and the traumatic experience of the bombing, as that generation is now reopening those memories in literature and public discourse.

"I was eight years old when the bombing happened, and today I see that that's when some of my anxiety started. On the one hand, there was the illusion of a normal life – socializing, cycling, playing, and then a siren would be heard and we had to go to the basement. Before it all started, I was already feeling fear while listening to the news, and I couldn't imagine what it would be like. I had dreams and nightmares – soldiers chasing me around the neighborhood and wanting to kill me. It's hard when you're a child to even understand what's happening. I think that had a big impact. And maybe social media today plays a role in the fact that writers are more willing to talk about everything openly because people are constantly revealing their private lives, photos, recordings, experiences, and all of that has collectively made us more relaxed about talking about what's bothering us. When you watch someone talk about their depression every day, then you say that you've been in the same situation and it's no longer scary to say it," Mitrović replied.

This concluded the literary evening at Poets' Square and this year's literary program of the festival.