Black Butterflies: SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE 2023

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In conversation with Serbian journalist Dunja Ilić at Bookstan International Literature Festival, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on 6 July 2023. Like Zora we find ourselves disbelieving and baffled at the collapse of the world she knows, and with her we discover who she really is. Among other subjects, Zora loves to paint bridges and I thought often about those bridges as a metaphor for human connection and in terms of physical escape or entrapment.

In the spring of 1992, fifty-five year old Zora can’t imagine that the Siege of Sarajevo will last long. But as the city falls under siege, Zora and the people around her – most of whom she barely knows – find themselves cut off from their comforts, rights and the outside world. We use Google Analytics to see what pages are most visited, and where in the world visitors are visiting from. Black Butterflies is a good solid novel that serves as a good primer for anyone who is interested in how the conflict began and the black market operations that were taking place. Gradually, however, the making of art becomes something akin to an act of resistance, of cultural defiance and an example of a determination to ‘carry on’.Empathic and immersive, it’s a story of humanity and community in a war zone: a story of survival when everything seems to be falling apart. This novel comes at an apt time, not just because it marks the thirtieth anniversary of the beginning of the Siege of Sarajevo, but because it testifies to the ease and speed with which things can fall apart. It was especially poignant to be reading this during the war in Ukraine and think about the sorts of daily dangers and deprivation that people face in conflict zones. Beautifully written and hauntingly evocative, Black Butterflies distils into a single consciousness a nation’s violent trauma and an artist’s sense of hope.

I appreciate the themes of people helping people, resilience, determination, hope, human kindness, and compassion for refugees. This is the third book in my quest to read all of the shortlisted books for this year's Women's Prize for Fiction. There were so many situations I simply couldn't fathom - your family property being distributed among strangers because of a communist government's weird beliefs, being on the waiting list for more than a decade to get a flat allotted, the government declaring that anyone can move into empty house as the owners have “abandoned” them… and this is even before the actual war began!Because I read the audiobook edition I wasn't able to read the Author's Note, but I found this article that explains how the novel relates to the author's family. Meni su utisak pokvarile rečenice tipa sve je lakše udvoje, noževi u mom srcu i slično, koje autorka ubacuje kad god pokušava da opiše napetu situaciju ili neki trenutak solidarnosti.

Facebook sets this cookie to show relevant advertisements to users by tracking user behaviour across the web, on sites that have Facebook pixel or Facebook social plugin. Reluctant to believe that hostilities will last more than a handful of weeks, she stays behind while the city falls under siege. Zora's art is not only a source of engagement and comfort for her during those difficult times but also provides readers a brief glimpse into the folklore and historical Ottoman architecture of Bosnia-Herzegovina. She teaches Creative Writing at University College Dublin and currently lives between Ireland and Spain.

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