The prestigious Andrić Award was presented today to Srđan Tešin for his collection of short stories “Crna Anđelija i druge zverske priče” (Black Angelia and Other Beastly Tales).
At the ceremony held at the Ivo Andrić Foundation in Belgrade, Tešin remarked that it is the dream of every Serb writer to receive the Andrić Award.
- “We have only one Nobel laureate, and this award is the most important, both symbolically and in every other sense, especially for me as a storyteller, as it crowns my body of work,” said Tešin.
He noted that he received the award at the right time, given that he is 53 years old and capable of understanding the significance of such an honor.
Tešin pointed out that all the stories in his awarded collection explore the relationship between humans and animals, attempting to find the animalistic in humans and the human-like traits in animals.
The director of the Foundation, Maja Radonić, reminded attendees that the Ivo Andrić Award has been presented for 48 years to the best short story, cycle, or collection of stories written in the Serbian language. She emphasized that the Serbian storytelling tradition evolved from the epic legacy and has grown alongside it.
- “This tradition persists and renews itself by merging the ancient with the modern in every new literary generation, deeply rooted in the centuries of Serbian literature,” Radonić stated at the ceremony.
Academician Miro Vuksanović noted that for years, the Foundation has organized a program on this day, which has been newly designated as the “Day of Ivo Andrić’s Birth.”
“This was done for clarity and to amplify the celebration, which under its new name becomes even more festive,” Vuksanović said.
He added that it is a great pleasure and privilege to announce that this month, with the works “The Bridge on the Drina” and “Bosnian Chronicle,” the Foundation will complete the critical edition of Ivo Andrić’s entire body of work.
In accordance with the will of Ivo Andrić, the Ivo Andrić Foundation established the Andrić Award in 1976 to honor the best short story, cycle, or collection of short stories published in the Serbian language between January 1 and December 31 of the previous year.
Source: RTRS
