Mama Leone

"Jergovic is an enormously talented storyteller." --Aleksandar Hemon A masterful collection of stories that draws the reader into a boy's episodic, profoundly personal recounting of his war-torn homeland and childhood. Dazzling, rhapsodic, and above all compassionate, these linked stories, deeply rooted in place and history, break down stereotypes and humanize a complex cultural conflict. Miljenko Jergovic, born in 1966, is a poet, novelist, and journalist. He was awarded the Ivan Goran Kovacic Award and the Mak Dizdar Award for Warsaw Observatoryand the Erich Maria Remarque Peace Prize for Sarajevo Marlboro(Archipelago Books, 2003), now in its third printing.

Novelist, short story writer, poet, and columnist, Miljenko Jergovic is a literary phenomenon whose writing is celebrated throughout Europe. His poetry collection Warsaw Observatory received the Goran Prize for young poets and the Mak Dizdar Award and his landmark collection of stories Sarajevo Marlboro received the Erich Maria Remarque Peace Prize. Mama Leone won the highly regarded Premio Grinzane Cavour for the best foreign book in Italy in 2003. His other works include Ruta Tannenbaum, The Walnut House, Buick Riviera, and Father.
Translator: David Williams translated Dubravka Ugreši'’s Karaoke Culture, which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle award for criticism. He holds a doctorate in Comparative Literature from the University of Auckland.