No one writes books to be forgotten after a year, but all writers hope that they will live longer, said the popular young writer Lana Bastasic when she was in Podgorica on the occasion of the publication of the Montenegrin edition of the novel "Catch the Rabbit", which made her famous.
Although the book "Catch the Rabbit" was published for the first time in 2018 and has since experienced as many as 19 translations, various awards and recognitions, the interest of the Montenegrin public has grown at the same time, as shown by the promotion of the novel published by the publishing house "Nova knjiga". And Bastašić has only positive impressions, she said in an interview for "Vijesti" on that occasion, further revealing that she is already preparing a new novel, although she has been writing in the meantime, but in different forms.
She continues to deal with a topic that is closely related to the former Yugoslavia, which proved to be tricky for readers in the territory of the former country, considering that Bastašić encountered different comments about what, how, why and what she should write. However, the example of Bastašić proved once again that her compatriots will accept her only after she has proven herself abroad.
"First, I went through situations when no one will accept you: in Croatia I am not good because I am Serbian, in Banja Luka I have a Croatian accent, which is not good, and in Belgrade I am Bosnian and I felt this discrimination at the university. Therefore, nobody will want you", said, among other things, Bastašić.
But even that has changed, but the young writer remains herself and consistent, no matter what, as evidenced by the case after the official Instagram profile of the production of the movie "Sex and the City" published a photo in which Sarah Jessica Parker holds the English edition of the book - "Catch the rabbit". Many would build marketing on that, while Bastašić just laughs and comments:
"Let an actress post a story on Instagram, not even her, but the profile of a series/film and suddenly all the media broadcast it and depending on which country they are from - they describe me as of that nationality. It was all funny to me", says Bastašić and talks about his creativity and current occupations.
After a large number of translations and editions in various languages, the novel "Catch the Rabbit" finally saw a Montenegrin edition, and that was the reason to visit Podgorica. The literary evening in the bookstore on Independence Square attracted numerous readers of all generations. What are your impressions?
I am really happy that this edition came out, because I love Montenegro very much and I like to have an excuse to come and go to the sea, which I find here to be beautiful. I had a wonderful time at the promotion in Podgorica. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of people who came, those who had already read the novel and those who told me they were about to read it. I am really happy that I visited Podgorica.
The moderator of the evening was the young Montenegrin writer Nikola Nikolić, with whom you have had a good cooperation since before, as the readers have noticed. It seems that the network of writers of your generation in the region is very good. How important is that to you considering the work you do?
Of course, in addition to the audience, the networking and cooperation that is really great between us is also very important to me. I greatly appreciate my colleagues from the region and their work. We really only have each other and therefore we have to support each other and have even greater solidarity, even if we write differently and are interested in different topics, because, after all, we share the same cake. My readers are also Nikola's readers, we create a readership and that's why it's important to work together and help each other. Nikola is really one of those people who dedicatedly stands up for it and significantly helps his colleagues in different ways; writes reviews of our books, brings us to promotions and fairs; and it is precisely because of him and such people that I really believe in solidarity and cooperation. If there is a scene, then it is the scene that interests me.
As a young woman in the Balkans and a young writer, how difficult is it to get involved in creativity, committed and dedicated, and then succeed in it, regardless of all the desirable or expected life models prescribed by a society subordinate to stereotypes?
It is difficult because all around us there are patterns that tell us how we should live, how we should think and what our life should look like, what are its stages and steps and not only for people who deal with literature, but in general. That's why it's hard to ask yourself "What do I really want and how do I want my life to look, without following the matrices and patterns that are expected of me". It was definitely difficult to accept that writing can be a profession and not just a hobby.
Once I determined that for myself and decided to approach it more seriously and place it at the center of my life, only then did things start to happen. Therefore, my advice to all people would be not to wait for things to happen and then commit to them, but to do it now! Don't wait for the perfect moment to do something, you have to go through the wall, you have to try. That's the only way to do something in your life, that is to try and try, whatever the outcome.
How did the fact that writing is mostly seen as a hobby and it is assumed that it is impossible to make a living from it affect you before? What is your comment today?
It seems to me that it is quite hypocritical that everyone tells us that it is impossible to make a living from writing and to be a writer. People say and repeat it so much that we eventually believe it. And actually, anything is possible and it is possible to be a writer and make a living from writing. I also had to fight for myself in order to succeed in this, and not to follow the path of our institutions and not to go through the medium of people who hold the helm in the literary world, but to try to break through on my own. I also think that a lot is up to us, authors and/or authors, because when we say to ourselves and become aware that we can live from our work and calling, when we ourselves stop looking at writing as a hobby and accept it as it is we want - then everything can be achieved, realized and obtained.
Also, it seems that literature can be used as an instrument of struggle, a defense mechanism, a kind of therapy, a kind of activism, but also an influence on society. At the promotion, you spoke about the educational aspect, and what is the correlation between literature and activism today?
I have never approached writing something in the context of activism, but as soon as you give space to new voices, stories that have not been told, literary characters that did not exist until then, were not in literature or the canon, then something shifts, happens and in the end it becomes a kind of activism. I think it's important to expand that field and include as many different voices as possible in literature.
Dude, it was natural for me to write about girls because I was once a girl myself, and then maybe a future girl will find herself in one of my books, which she couldn't before. Just by expanding the field, where different experiences can find their way to a medium, it is enough in itself and it is not necessary to think about how to express activism through literature. Therefore, I would say that I don't even think about it, but describe some experiences, my own or others', true or not.
To what extent are you personally and your creativity determined by the circumstances related to the territory, history and all aspects that we did not choose, which are omnipresent and have a great influence on us, what we are and how we live?
All of us are definitely shaped by our environment, environment, history, past and that is inevitable. I can only see by example how different I am from my own brother and sister, and by chance all three of us ended up in different cities and different environments formed us in different ways. It's somehow inevitable and you shouldn't run away from it, you just have to be aware of how much something outside makes you who you are, if it's really your choice - to live in a certain way and look, speak, identify yourself and follow a certain life path you are going So, I would say that it's just important to be aware of the world around you.
As a writer who holds three citizenships, I assume that this means that you are subject to greater attention from the reading public, critics, colleagues, and even the media. How did it affect you from that critical aspect, given that you discovered and received various comments?
Whoever engages in a work related to creation, which goes out into the public space, must accept that there will always be criticism. Simply, everyone reacts differently to us, our performance and what we do and create. It is important for me to hear the opinions of people I value. Of course, there was everything in the reactions to my work, because as soon as you step out into a public space, you can expect just about anything, especially today in the age of the Internet when everyone has an opinion as soon as they have a keyboard and a screen. However, you should never let some harsh words get to you in such a way that you become bitter and take it personally.
Despite everything, you should always follow your own path. In this area of ours, I have also experienced that I am politically recruited and classified into various categories, that they criticize me, that they say that I am a traitor to my people and who knows what, but in all of this I am fighting with myself. And, at the end of the day, that's the only thing that matters - you fight and compete with yourself and you always have to beat and outwit yourself. This is exactly what helps me to keep going and keep going regardless of all the evil tongues.
What is your attitude towards the countries to which you are attached and does it seem to you that today the need for belonging, national identification and the like is becoming more and more pronounced?
I definitely see that in the whole world, not only here, but in the whole world, and especially in Europe, nationalism is growing again. There is also that song that says "Children love flags again" (Eva Braun, "The Golden Hour") and that says it all. In times of crisis, we always turn to that sense of community and identity, which can be both good and bad.
I think that patriotism as such does not necessarily have to be bad, on the contrary, but when it goes too far and turns into nationalism and some idea that these people you don't know are close just because, by chance, you are in the same country or you are bound by the same criteria, and you don't provide a chance to meet other people and other cultures, that's the moment when problems can arise. I think we just need to guard against paranoia and fear and not let fear dictate our identity and how we perceive ourselves and the world around us.
Your interest in topics related to Yugoslavia is evident. What is your attitude towards that phenomenon that still today inspires and intrigues many, and equally the young or younger generations who do not remember Tito's SFRY?
Definitely, before mine there is a whole generation of Yugonostalgics and Yugoskeptics and everyone else with that prefix. For my generation, I think it all goes in a different direction, and that is the question of how to deal with all that heritage, without idealizing it or completely writing it off? How can we deal with this legacy while at the same time moving towards the future and creating a new identity? Because we have nothing to dwell on other people's nostalgia.
Or in a past that is not ours?
That's right, or in a past that is not ours. That's why I think it's definitely important to deal with it, but not to grow old in that time, but to move on.
When you write, do you try to come up with some concrete answers for your own sake, which are important to you in the further formation and building of yourself as a person, or are you dedicated to thinking for the sake of the readers and their knowledge?
Well, in the end, I always write for my own sake in the sense that I am obsessed with a topic that I want to explore and then devote myself to through literature. In addition, it would be a little arrogant for me to approach my writing in the way "This is important to write", because the world will be the same and it doesn't care if I write or not. I am obsessed with certain topics, so the books I like are those in which I feel that the writer was obsessed with something so much that he had to write it, not that he sat down and wrote about anything, but that he really wanted or wanted to write that book. That's what I'm trying to do. Some will like it, some won't, but I will know that I was honest with myself and that I followed my desire and my obsession.
Therefore, everything you create is your work into which you have brought a (personal) part of yourself. How visible are you in your works and how is that influenced by various everyday events, from political and beyond?
In a way, everything is personal and everything is political. For example, I can write a story about a flower that withers and is about to be stepped on and it be a political and personal story. Simply, some emotion existed and some moment existed when someone decided to deal with a certain emotion. How we will turn it into art and where it becomes a profession and a skill remains an open question. For me, of course, my life is an inspiration, as, I suppose, everyone's life is an inspiration. I also think that it is necessary to have some distance so that what we do does not only concern us, but also to enable other people to find themselves in it.
You are writing something new, what can readers expect from you soon?
I am slowly writing a new novel and hope to have it published next year. Editing and every other work is waiting, but I don't want to rush, because I don't want to disappoint the people who connected so well with the first novel. It is more important for me to know that I have written something that I am proud of than to just stamp works one after another because of the market and the logic of the market. My obsessive themes are also represented in this novel, so it is also Yugoslavia, nostalgia, identity, only this time I am also interested in time as a basic dimension in the novel.
Emotion before marketing
The popularity of the novel was in some way contributed to by the photo from the movie "Sex and the City" published on Instagram, in which Sarah Jessica Parker is holding the English edition of the book "Catch the rabbit", which (famous) Carrie Bradshaw is reading at that moment. How did it come about and what is your attitude towards it? Still, it's an interesting promotion.
It would be hypocritical to say that it doesn't mean anything to me, because it was a big promotion, and I was honestly surprised by it. I just woke up one morning and my phone was blowing up with calls and texts and I didn't know what was going on, just like I didn't know where it came from, which I still don't know. I haven't communicated with anyone from the series. And on the other hand, it didn't bring me a big new audience as much as it ignited in terms of marketing. It may sound corny, but every reader is very important to me, whether it's Carrie Bradshaw or someone else.
In this regard, I must also say that a girl who came to the promotion in Podgorica approached me and said that she was writing a paper for school on the topic of my book. It's beautiful to me, and the fact that that young woman found something in that book and that it might inspire her to tell her own story means more to me than a famous person sharing some "story" that boosts popularity and contributes to that PR segment . I cringe as I talk, but it means a lot to me to know that the book touched someone as it did this young woman.
Handwriting has its own creative charm
Given that you've been writing and publishing journal entries, do you sometimes write by hand or do you mostly type everything on the keyboard?
That's a great question! There are moments when I write by hand and that is usually when I have an idea and want to try it out, to see it on paper and to try out my voice, to hear it out loud. I do this because it is not enough for me to just have an idea for a story, but also to have a voice that will tell the story. Writing by hand is very useful for me, but when the story starts to develop, I switch to typing because it's simple and easier and simpler and faster. I have been writing for a long time, I write diaries and my observations, I like to write by hand and I would say that hand writing definitely has its own creative charm and in that context there is a connection between writing and creation.
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