Epic India reviews The Last Book

The Last Book - PolarisPushpak Karnick at Epic India has reviewed The Last Book:

“At a time when the market seems to be flooded daily with paperbacks that run along the alphabet, exhort the cliché, revel in presenting a stereotypical ‘Yuppie’ outlook, and (to say the least) fondly follow a long-forgotten dogma that the center of the Universe lies in the Central Park; here comes a novella that makes a detour in time and style, that sparkles with effervescent originality and acerbic (yet heartwarming) wit that can only be found on the other side of the Atlantic.”

Link to the full review.

Interview in InterGalactic Medicine Show

Darrell Schweitzer’s interview with my humble self has just been posted at InterGalactic Medicine Show.

SCHWEITZER: Robert Heinlein once famously described science fiction as a form of realism, that is, serious speculation about things that might be, told in a realistic manner. That doesn’t fit your work at all, which seems closer to Borges or Kafka than to Heinlein. So how would you describe your approach? What is the use of unreality in describing thematic truth?

ZIVKOVIC: First of all, I don’t write science fiction. Nor fantasy for that matter. I feel rather uncomfortable whenever labeled in any way as an author. I consider myself a writer without any prefixes. I am just a humble practitioner of the ancient and noble art of prose. No more, no less. Any prefix would be either misleading or limiting. Labels are invented by the publishing industry which doesn’t see any art in prose. For them it is just another product whose sole purpose is to be sold. My writing belongs to the middle European fantastic tradition. I feel strong literary kinship with such masters as Bulgakov, Kafka and Lem. I write fantastic fiction because its non-mimetic nature enables me to tell something that couldn’t be expressed in any other way.

Link to the full interview.

New Novel: Escher’s Loops

I’ve completed a new novel, Escher’s Loops. At nearly 90,000 words, it is my second biggest prose book so far. The Serbian-language rights went to the Belgrade-based publisher Geopoetika.

Geopoetika acquired also the English-language rights for Escher’s Loops for the following territories: Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Both editions, Serbian and English, are due to appear in June.

Aio News Notification

My American publisher, Aio Publishing, recently posted the following notification on their website:

Note (February 14, 2008): We apologize for the inconvenience, but we are not accepting submissions right now. We’ll post any changes to this on this page as soon as we’re aware of them. For the time being, we’re focusing our exclusive attention on publishing the work of Zoran Zivkovic. Thank you for your understanding!

Aio Publishing US edition Aio Publishing US edition Aio Publishing US edition

Which is very flattering news indeed!

“The Teashop” to be reprinted in Year’s Best anthology

2008 Fantasy BotYMy novella “The Teashop” (originally published in English in Twelve Collections and The Teashop) will be included in the 2008 edition of Fantasy: The Best of the Year, an anthology edited by Rich Horton. The book, which selects the best tales of the fantastic published in 2007, is scheduled to appear in early 2008 from Prime Books.

The table of contents (courtesy of John Joseph Adams) is as follows:

  • Daryl Gregory, “Unpossible” (F&SF, October/November)
  • Kelly Link, “Light” (Tin House, Fall)
  • Zoran Zivkovic, “The Teashop”, (12 Collections and the Teashop)
  • Noreen Doyle, “The Rope” (Realms of Fantasy, April)
  • William Alexander, “Buttons”, (Zahir, Summer/07)
  • Holly Phillips, “Brother of the Moon”, (Fantasy)
  • Andy Duncan, “A Diorama of the Infernal Regions”, (Wizards)
  • Rachel Swirsky, “Heartstrung”, (Interzone, 6/07)
  • Carrie Laben, “Something in the Mermaid Way” (Clarkesworld, March)
  • Matthew Johnson, “Public Safety” (Asimov’s, 3/07)
  • Benjamin Rosenbaum and David Ackert, “Stray” (F&SF, December)
  • Marly Youmans, “The Comb” (Fantasy, December)
  • Garth Nix, “Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz Go to War Again” (Baen’s Universe, 4/07)
  • Karen Joy Fowler, “The Last Worders”, (Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, 6/07)
  • Theodora Goss, “Singing of Mount Abora” (Logorrhea)
  • David Barr Kirtley, “Save Me Plz” (Realms of Fantasy, October)
  • Erik Amundsen, “Bufo Rex” (Weird Tales)
  • Ian R. MacLeod, “The Master Miller’s Tale” (F&SF, May)

The Future Creative Writers of Belgrade

As you may know, last October I was made a Creative Writing professor in the Faculty of Philology at the University of Belgrade. Below is a photograph of me with my first batch of creative writing students at the end of the first semester (my apologies for the blurriness of the photo).

And here I am, playing the part of the professor-in-action . . .

Feature Article in Fame Magazine

I recently appeared in the first issue of Fame magazine, a new Serbian glossy, along with Serbia’s three reigning tennis stars. My photo was taken for a full-page feature article on my humble self, and also for the foldout section of the magazine’s cover (shown in the center, below):

Please click each image to enlarge.

New Professorship at University of Belgrade

PRESS RELEASE — ZORAN ZIVKOVIC MADE PROFESSOR AT UNIVERSITY OF BELGRADE

The Serbian novelist Zoran Zivkovic has been made a professor in the Faculty of Philology at the University of Belgrade, where he will teach Creative Writing.

Zivkovic is the author of many critically-acclaimed fictions, including TIME GIFTS, IMPOSSIBLE ENCOUNTERS, SEVEN TOUCHES OF MUSIC, THE LIBRARY and STEPS THROUGH THE MIST. His most recent novel, THE LAST BOOK, sold out its 20,000-copy first print run within days of release in his native Serbia. His novel THE BRIDGE was the winner of the 2006 Isidora Sekulic Award, named after one of the greatest Serbian female writers and essayists of the 20th century, a major mainstream literary prize. THE BRIDGE was previously short-listed for the NIN Award — Serbia’s major literary award.

Zoran Zivkovic said: “I am delighted I’ll have an opportunity to transfer my writer’s experience to talented students. I am certain we could all benefit from my teaching.”