In his epic novels, Madzunkov introduces authobiographical elements through different characters and situations, he writes in the maner of southamerican magical realism with inexplicable incidents, unusual characters, and mostly he inserts places, legends and myths from Strumica region.
Biography
Mitko Madzunkov (b. 1943) is a storyteller, novelist, playwright and essayist. He graduated from the Faculty of Philology in Belgrade. He has spent most of his working life in the Library of the City of Belgrade. His first books were also published in Serbian language. Madžunkov is a member of the Macedonian Writers’ Association since 1986 and of the Association of Independent Writers, as well as the Association of Writers of Serbia (1970). He is also member of Macedonian Academy of Arts and Sciences since 2003.
He has won many literary awards – “Isidora Sekulić“ for the stories collection “Kill the talking dog” (1974), “Racin award” for “The edge of the world”, “Vojdan Chernodrinski”, The Novel of the Year by “Detska Radost” and in 2013, for the title “The birds from last year’s nests”, Madžunkov was awarded with “Utrinski vesnik” Novel of the Year Award.
His works include short stories: “Strange Encounter” (Belgrade 1970, Skopje 2010), “Kill the Talkative Dog” (Belgrade 1973, Skopje 1988, 2011), “Clouds over the Knotgrass” (Skopje 1974), “The Smell of the Earth” (Skopje 1984); short prose: “The Edge of the World” (Belgrade 1984, Skopje 1985), “Paradoxical Dream” (Skopje 1987), “The Tree of Narayana” (Skopje 1998), “The Gifts of Heaven” (Pančevo 2007), “The Abduction of Europe” (2008); novels: “The Tower on the Hill” (Belgrade 1980, Skopje 1981, 1999), “The Home of Alexander” (Skopje 1992, Belgrade 2004, Skopje 2005), “Towards the Other Land” (Skopje 1993, Bitola 2008), “The Age of Reindeers” (Skopje 2003, Sofa 2010); essays: “The Lonely Stork and His Flock” (Skopje 2000), “Chekhov or the Secret of Storytelling” (Belgrade 2006) and “The Birthplace of Literature” (Skopje 2008). He is also author of several plays (“The Big Grass Snake”, “The Shadow”, “Waste Land”, “Road to Lychnidos”, “The Mill”, “Great Wonder” etc.) staged in theatres and published in separate books.
Outstanding title:
THE BIRDS FROM LAST YEAR’S NESTS (2012)
Monumental literary achievement which covers the events of just one single day, arranged in 19 separate chapters in which we meet a gallery of impressive characters. Each of the characters is self-specific, plunged into its own maelstrom of events. This is an urban novel, a testimony about today’s current people and their destinies, a novel about tragically lonely individuals through which the collective karma is broken. The reader finds many layers into this story. At some point, it is a documentary through the writer ironizes the socialism but also the eternal themes of love, death, family etc.
No. of pp: 554
Awards and honors:
- Novel of the Year Award for 2012
Translation available:
English.
Latest title:
THE TIME BEFORE THE STORY (2022)
Rare example of a magnificent epic saga, which is actually a picture of our time, of our immediate past, of our present and nearest future. The time in Madžunkov’s book is not measured by a clock, and history it gathered in one place. Polyphonic story in which each sentence hides multiple meanings and branches into multiple possible streams. This worked showed why this authors unwaveringly maintain the quality of our domestic literature. It is a novel about a search of the lost time. The famous Macedonian author Venko Andonovski has said that this is the novel that left him speechless. Impressive, he said and all the readers agree.
No. of pp: 815
Rights:
TRI Publishing Centre
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