site.btaWriter Bojan Ljubenovic: Every Serbian Satirist Dreams of Receiving Short Story Award Named after Bulgarian Satirist Aleko Konstantinov

Serbian writer Bojan Ljubenovic, this year's winner of the Aleko International Short Story Competition named after the great Bulgarian satirist Aleko Konstantinov (1863-1897), told BTA's correspondent in Belgrade here on Friday that every satirist in Serbia dreams of receiving this award.

Ljubenovic was born in 1972, he is a lawyer and a journalist and writer by profession, translated into eight languages. He has published about 30 books for children and adults, including ten with aphorisms.

The writer has won almost every prestigious award in the field of satire in his homeland and in the Balkans. He is a member of the Union of Writers in Serbia and the Belgrade Aphoristic Circle.

"I feel very proud and happy. The award named after Aleko Konstantinov is the crown of all the awards I have received so far. I am impressed by the scale and joy with which you celebrate Aleko in Bulgaria!," Ljubenovic said.

The Serbian writer noted that his biography has something in common with the Bulgarian satirist.

"We are both lawyers by education, we have both written travelogues about America. Now I just hope I don't get killed like Aleko," joked Ljubenovic.

Aleko Konstantinov was assassinated in 1897 while traveling in rural Bulgaria, likely by mistake with the intended target being a local politician and friend Mihail Takev with whom he was travelling and had changed places in their coach. There is also the version that Konstantinov was eliminated because of his writings, exposing the wrongdoings of those in power at the time.

The Serbian writer visited Bulgaria for the first time when he received his award at the beginning of this week.

"Sofia is a very nice city, it's well laid out, you have several metro lines. You have decided to become part of the European Union and NATO and you are consistent in your choices, you do not hesitate, this is very good", Ljubenovic said, adding that he could not yet form a full impression of Bulgaria, but he felt the Bulgarian hospitality.

He also visited Konstantinov's hometown of Svishtov (on the Danube).

The writer won the award with his short story "Origins", about a Serb who decided to change his long-dead great-grandfather's name to a Bulgarian one.

Ljubenovic, who has for years maintained ties with the Bulgarian Starshel [hornet] satirical magazine, proposes to establish an international award named after Bulgarian dissident, writer and scholar Gancho Savov, who is closely connected with Balkan literature and traditions.