Tanja Kragujević


Tanja Kragujević, a Serbian poet, was born in 1946. in Senta, northern Vojvodina. She has been a member of the Serbian Literary Society since its foundation in 2001. By the decision of the Government of Serbia, 24 December 2009, she was awarded the title of top artists in the field of literature. She lives in Zemun.

Education

She finished the first grade of primary school in Senta, continued her education in Belgrade in the primary school "Vuk Karadzic" and in the Second Belgrade High School. She graduated in 1970, and earned her MA in 1973 at the Belgrade Faculty of Philology, Department of General Literature and Literary Theory. Her Master's thesis, dedicated to one of the most important Serbian poets Momčilo Nastasijević, was published in the form of an essay in the prestigious Argus edition, publishing house "Vuk Karadzic", 1976. She has been represented in numerous anthologies of contemporary Serbian poetry in the country and abroad.

Literary Work

Her first book of poetry was published when she was twenty by one of the oldest and the most outstanding publishing houses and appeared in "The First Book" collection. Since then she has published 19 collections of poetry, most recently Hleb od ruža whichcame out published by KOV, Vršac. The first book of poems, Vratio se Volodja, was illustrated with the photographs by Tanja's father, an art photographer and photojournalist of Politika newspaper, Stevan Kragujević, while the monograph "Kragujević, Senta koje više nema", was published on the occasion of the trecentenary celebration of the town of Senta by the Kulturno-obrazovni centar "Torzo Lajoš iz Sente", 1997.. The first selection from her complete poetical works was published by "Agora". The selected and new poems, entitled Staklena trava, was edited and the afterword was written by the poet and literary critic Nenad Šaponja. Within Edicija dobitnika književne nagrade Milica Stojadinović Srpkinja, published by Zavod za kulturu Vojvodine, 2010, a new selection of her poetry, called "Ruža, zaista", appeared edited and with the afterword by the literary critic and essayist Dragana Beleslin.
Tanja Kragujević's poetry was reviewed by poets and essayists Ivan V. Lalić, Milica Nikolić, prof.dr. Slavko Gordić, Draško Redjep, dr. Dragana Beleslijin, Dragan Jovanović Danilov and Nenad Šaponja, and literary critics Čedomir Mirković, Vasa Pavković, Bojana Stojanović Pantović, Dušica Protić, Aleksandar B. Laković and others as well.

Guest appearances at festivals

Appeared at poetry festivals: Struga Poetry Festival,, Pushkin Poetry Days, Square of Poets,. Participated in the work of literary colony at Sićevo, the International Literary Colony at Čortanovci. Represented Serbia at the First Trans-Balkan Poetry Festival in Thessaloniki. Guest appearance at the Fourth International Literature and Film Festival of Ordu, 3–6. October 2013.

Kragujević Family Legacy

On the occasion of five decades since the publication of the first poetical book Vratio se Volodja, Istorijski arhiv Beograda staged the exhibition with the same name. The author of the lay out, Isidora Stojanović, presented the author’s books, anthologies, rewards, artefacts and photos which constitute a part of Kragujević family legacy and mark the life, editorial and creative work of the poetess. The special segments of the exhibition refers to the family, friends and associates, their letters, photos, books with inscriptions, gifts, rarity books and various items which are the integral part of this Legacy.

Translations

Translations of her poetry can be read in several languages in the world's largest online poetry anthology Lyrikline, and on her personal website as well. Her poems have been translated into German, English, French, Spanish, Hungarian, Dutch, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Belarusian, Italian, Slovenian, Polish, Japanese, and Greek. Especially interesting is the publication entitled Staklena trava, collection of seven poems in seven languages, published by Agora, Zrenjanin, 2012. She is present in thematic and other anthologies home and abroad, representing Serbian poetry today, inter alia: Poesia Serbia hoy, Debats and Les Poètes de la Mediterannée ; Hundert grams Seele, Ten Decagrams of Soul, The Anthology of Serbian Poetry of the Second Part of the Twentieth Century, The Anthology of Serbian Poetry of XX and XXI Century, El Color de la Esencia.

Editing

More than fifteen years she has been engaged in publishing work. As the editor, she has created several collections of books of modern literature, collected and selected works by world outstanding authors, edition Alpha Lyrae, dedicated to the most important names of the modern world poetry. She is the Editor of the book collection "Ariel" in the publishing house "Agora" who publishes the works of the most outstanding poets in the world. The book Kutija za mesečinu, was published in 2003. KOV, Vršac.

Published books

Poetry

Since 10 April 2009, the verses of Tanja Kragujević can be found on the world’s largest Internet poetry presentation, Lyrikline.org.

About a Poetess

The poetry of Tanja Kragujević. Collection of works. Edition “Desanka’s May Conversations”, Book 34. The endowment of “Desanka Maksimović” and the National Library of Serbia, Belgrade, 2017. Edited by Mirjana Stanišić. Authors: Emeritus Professor Dr. Slavko Gordić, Milica Nikolić, Vasa Pavković, Prof. Dr. Bojan Djordjević, Darija Žilić, Dr. Mila Medigović Stefanović, Tamara Krstić,
Sonja Milovanović and Prof. Dr. Vladislava Gordić.

Awards