Photo: Sofia Grigoriadou
Grozdanoski elucidates the different nuances of the human spirit, both through the self-contemplation of his characters, and also through their interaction with authorities and with society in general.
Biography
Živko Grozdanoski (1986, Kichevo) acquired primary education in Bigor Dolenci and Kichevo, and secondary education in the American high school “NOVA” in Skopje.
In 2005, the poetry collection “Sand and Silk” was published in “NOVA”. In 2009, he completed undergraduate studies in Italian language and literature at the Faculty of Philology “Blaze Koneski” in Skopje. In the same year, in the “Magma” edition of the “Templum” publisher, the first edition of “Prints on Ice Cubes”, a collection of short-short prose, is published. In 2011, the collection of short stories “Stories about herbs and other stories” was published in “Antolog”. In 2014, “Ili-ili” publishes his first novel (a collection of three novellas) “A Suitcase for Three”, which will be a finalist for the Novel of the Year Award. In 2016, “Templum” publishes a second and updated edition of “Footprints on Ice Cubes”, and in 2018, “Antolog” publishes the novel “The Last Name of the Future”. In 2019, “Begemot” publishes his collection “50 short stories (the best of 10 short story collections)” signed under the pseudonym Gilles Menard. In 2020, under the logo of “Liberation Boulevard”, Živko publishes the trilingual (in Macedonian, Greek and English) thematic anthology “If I were in your place”. In 2021, he publishes “Five stories from around the world” in “Strange Forest”, which in 2022 The Macedonian Association of Publishers will award with the first prize for the best children book. In 2022, he publishes the novel “Letter to Gloria”, which will also be a finalist for Novel of the Year Award. In 2023, again in the edition of “Strange Forest”, “The White Mice, The Terrible Infestation of Green Lice, The Black Sheep” is published, which receives the award for the best text at the “Litera” festival in 2024.
Živko Grozdanoski leads a workshop on creative autofiction writing, and from June 2024 is appointed as the president of the Society of Writers of Macedonia.
Outstanding title:
A SUITCASE FOR THREE (2014)
A collection of three novellas, all narrated with short chapters and set in different Macedonian locations: primarily Skopje, but also other places.
The first novella is a bittersweet satire about common people living their everyday lives: all seen through the thick and ridiculous filter of soap operas. The author dissects the illnesses, hopes, and fears of a society obsessed with the worst stories—and with bare survival.
The second novella depicts the challenges of two friends realizing that their challenge is actually just one. They call a friend of theirs (a version of the author of this book of autofiction), and they manage to find a solution—with the help of a suitcase.
The third novella deals with activism, translating the lives of ordinary and extraordinary characters who, in one way or another, get involved or at least come into contact with the struggle of a group of devotees—mostly young people—defending the life of a tree that still grows intertwined with the fence encircling the central libraries in Skopje.
No. of pp: 346
Rights sold to:
Italy, Bulgaria.
Latest title:
LETTER FOR GLORIA (2022)
“Letter for Gloria” is multilayered novel, dealing with family, personal, professional, national trauma, and with the therapeutic effect of writing as one of the most important layers.
“This novel is a striking example of how (auto)fiction can be a book for self-awareness, self-confrontation and self-help through the key and the labyrinths that it opens for us through the endless landscapes of beautiful literature.“
– Frosina Parmakovska
No. of pp: 249
Awards and honors:
- Finalist for Novel of the Year Award for 2022
Rights:
Živko Grozdanoski
grozdanoskiz@yahoo.com