Best European Fiction 2013 (49 page)

BORIVOJE ADAŠEVIĆ
was born in 1974 in Užice, now in Serbia. His first books were collections of short stories entitled
Ekvilibrista
(Balancer, 2000) and
Iz trećeg kraljevstva
(The Third Kingdom, 2006). These were followed by a novel,
Ćovek iz kuće na bregu
(The Man from the House on the Hill, 2009). He lives and works in Požega.

BERNARDO ATXAGA
was born Joseba Irazu Garmendia in Gipuzkoa, Spain, in 1951. After receiving a degree in economics from the University of Bilbao, he studied philosophy at the University of Barcelona, and worked as an economist, bookseller, professor of the Basque language, publisher, and radio scriptwriter until 1980, when he dedicated himself completely to writing. He lives in the Basque Country, writing in both Basque and Spanish, and many of his works are available in English translation, including
Obabakoak
(1988, 1992),
The Lone Man
(1992, 1996),
The Lone Woman
(1996, 1999),
The Accordionist’s Son
(2003, 2007), and
Seven Houses in France
(2009, 2011). Among several Basque prizes for literature and criticism, he was awarded the Premio Nacional de Narrativa in 1989, the Millepages Prix in 1992, and the Prix des trois Couronnes in 1995.

MIRANA LIKAR BAJŽELJ
was born in 1961 in Novo Mesto in what is now Slovenia. She is a professor of Slovenian language and literature and has a degree in the same subject, as well as degrees in education and library science. She started writing a few years ago and published her first short stories in the magazines
Literatura
,
Mentor
,
Sodobnost,
and
Vpogled
. She has received a number of awards for individual stories. Her first short story collection
Sobotne zgodbe
(Saturday Stories) came out in October 2009 and her second book
Sedem besed
(Seven Words) was published in 2012.

RUMEN BALABANOV
was born in 1950 in Sofia, Bulgaria. His works include
Someone Has Gone
and the play
Beyond the Curve
. He received the prestigious “Southern Spring” prize for young writers with his first novel,
Honey Dew
, and has received numerous other awards, including the Chudomir and Golden Youth prizes. He worked as an editor for
Hornet
, Bulgaria’s sole humor newspaper, was editor-in-chief of the
Literature Front
newspaper, and published the
Psycho
newspaper. He is best known as the founder of Bulgaria’s “gutter press.” Balabanov became a TV producer and owned Channel 2001 from 2000 to 2006. He is currently editor-in-chief of
Word Today
, the official newspaper of the Union of Bulgarian Writers.

BALLA
is a highly original voice on Slovakia’s literary scene, the author of absurdist short stories populated by a gallery of lonely, alienated, and peculiar characters unable to relate to other human beings and undergoing bizarre, often frightening experiences. A recipient of several literary awards, Balla shuns the spotlight and continues to live in the provincial town of Nové Zámky. He published the first of his seven short story collections,
Leptokária
, in 1996. His recent books include the collections
De la Cruz
(2005) and
Cudzí
(Strangers, 2008). In 2011 he published a novella,
V mene otca
(In the Name of the Father), followed by another,
Oko
(The Eye), in 2012.

DANIEL BATLINER
was born in Eschen, Liechtenstein, in 1988, where he spent most of his childhood. He began to write while very young, predominantly for the stage. Though many of his works had already been performed in Switzerland, where he lived until recently, spring 2012 found his first full-length plays
Wodka Nicotschow
and
Once Oberland, Please!
debuting to great acclaim in his native Liechtenstein, where he now resides.

ARI BEHN
was born in 1972 in Aarhus, grew up in England and Northern Norway, and is currently a resident of Bærum. His debut story collection
Trist som faen
(Sad as Hell) appeared in 1999 to great acclaim; he has since published three novels. His most recent publication is a collection of short fictions,
Talent for lykke
(Talent for Luck, 2011). He married Princess Märtha Louise of Norway in 2002, and they have three daughters.

KRIKOR BELEDIAN
is an Armenian writer, literary critic, and translator living in France. He was born in Beirut in 1948 and teaches Armenian Studies at the Université Catholique de Lyon and the Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales in Paris. He is the author of six novels and multiple volumes of critical essays and poetry.

LASHA BUGADZE
was born in 1977 and is a Georgian novelist and playwright. He has won an award from the BBC International Radio Playwriting Competition (for his drama
The Navigator
) as well as the SABA Awards for Best Novel and Best Play of the Year. Bugadze is also a cartoonist, screenwriter, producer, and TV personality with the Georgian Public Broadcasting Company.

A. S. BYATT
is internationally acclaimed as a novelist, short story writer and critic. Her books include
Possession
,
The Children’s Book,
and the quartet of
The Virgin in the Garden
,
Still Life, Babel Tower
, and
A Whistling Woman
. She was appointed Dame of the British Empire in 1999.

DULCE MARIA CARDOSO
was born in Trás-os-Montes, Portugal, in 1964. She spent her childhood in Angola and returned to Portugal in 1975, after which she studied law and wrote film scripts.
Campo de sangue
(Field of Blood, 2002) was her first novel, and it won her the Grande Prémio Acontece. In 2009 she was awarded the European Union Prize for Literature for her novel
Os meus sentimentos
(My Feelings). In 2010 she won the PEN Prize for her novel
O chão dos pardais
(Sparrow Ground).

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