Dušan Šarotar

Dušan Šarotar was born in Murska Sobota in 1968. He is a writer, poet, translator, and photographer, and the author of more than twenty literary works. The central theme of his works is the fate of the Jewish community and the Holocaust in Murska Sobota and the wider Prekmurje region. At the heart of his artistic work are memory, language, grief, and the human soul, which he approaches through poetic language and a characteristic slowness. His prose is marked by descriptions of nature, cities, and a distinctive atmosphere. His novels „Biljar u Dobrayu“, „Panorama“, and „Zvjezdana karta“ were shortlisted for the Kresnik Award for Best Novel. In 2023, Šarotar received the Župančič Award, the highest recognition of the City of Ljubljana, for his novel „Zvjezdana karta“. The novels „Panorama“ and „Biljar u Dobrayu“ were shortlisted for the prestigious Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize. In 2017, the novel „Panorama“ received the Mexican Cesar-Lopez Cuadras Award for Best Novel as chosen by readers, and was also longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award in 2018. „Calvert Journal“ included the novel on its list of the 100 best novels from Central and Eastern Europe. In 2021, Šarotar began developing and exhibiting his photographic series „Duše“. He writes screenplays for feature and documentary films, as well as film portraits of Slovenian artists. He lives in Ljubljana.