Ivana Šojat

Ivana Šojat, mother of three grown-up humans, leader of a pack consisting of two dogs and three cats, rocker, goth, tree-hugger, music lover, student of philosophy and art history, amateur mathematician and physicist, translator, and writer. She was born in the shortest — and allegedly craziest — month of the year, 1971. So far, she has published 12 novels — four of which are for young readers — five poetry collections, three short story collections, a book of essays, a travelogue, and two picture books. She has translated 75 literary works by renowned authors from the French- and English-speaking worlds. Out of sheer curiosity, she has dabbled in just about everything: she participated in the war, climbed mountains, learned horseback riding, fencing, and rowing, cultivated a garden full of medicinal herbs, dug through archives and earth, sang in rock bands — and in the opera choir of the Croatian National Theatre (HNK) in Osijek. Her books have received numerous awards, including the Vladimir Nazor, Ksaver Šandor Gjalski, Fric, Galović, Kozarac, Mato Lovrak, Grigor Vitez, and Mali Princ awards.For her overall body of work, she has been awarded the Seal of the City of Osijek and the Order of Danica Hrvatska with the image of Marko Marulić. At the time of writing this biography, she is still living — and working.