Lidija Dimkovska

Lidija Dimkovska was born in 1971 in Skopje in Macedonia. She spent her childhood with her grandparents in the hamlet of Slegovo, but later returned to her birthplace, where she studied Comparative Literature. After her studies the author moved to Romania, where she taught Macedonian Language and Literature at Bucharest University and at the same time graduated in Romanian Literature. Dimkovska, who is currently recognised as one of the most important representatives of contemporary Macedonian literature, now lives in Slovenia, where she works as an author, translator, essayist and lecturer of International Literature.

Dimkovska already wrote poetry during her time as a student, which proved surprising for its combination of elements of the surreal and bizarre with an astute analysis of modern Eastern European society. This originality contributed to her winning the Macedonian prize for début of the year for her first poetry collection, »Rožbi od istok« (tr: Offshoots of the East), in 1992. She published further collections of poetry at short intervals, the latest being »pH neutralna za životot i smrtta« (tr: pH neutral for life and death) in 2009. As well as poetry, Dimkovska has also written the novel »Skriena kamera« (2004; tr: Hidden Camera), which, like her poetry, has been translated into several other languages. This novel tells the tale of three displaced artists, and deals with her own experience of displacement through frequent moves. The novel humorously and critically illuminates cultural and gender identities. A characteristic element of all of Dimkovska’s literary work can be identified in her combinations of metaphors from apparently unrelated areas – she combines in almost all of her texts, for example, religious or mythological symbols with images from modern technology. In this way she repeatedly and playfully undercuts accustomed expectations.

Dimkovska has received many prizes for her work, including the Macedonian Writers’ Guild’s prize for best prose of the year for »Skriena kamera« in 2005. She won the literary prize Poesis in 2002 for the Romanian edition of »Meta-spanzurare de meta-tei« (2001; tr: The Meta-Hanging of a Meta-Lime Tree) and in 2009 the German prize Hubert Burda for younger East-European poets. In addition, the author has won numerous awards for her literary translations. She lives in Ljubljana.

Izgrizani nokti

Kultura

Skopje, 1998

Meta-spanzurare de meta-tei

Vinea

Bukarest, 2001

Nobel protiv Nobel

Blesok

Skopje, 2001

Skriena kamera

Magor

Skopje, 2004

Do Not Awaken Them With Hammers

Ugly Duckling Press

New York, 2006

pH neutralna za životot i smrtta

Blesok

Skopje, 2009