Zmijanje on Mount Manjača, an area comprising 39 villages, is the homeland of many writers and scholars. Numerous books have been written about Zmijanje and its people. The literary association “Vaso Pelagić” from Banja Luka presented two books dedicated precisely to Zmijanje at the National Library.
The books presented were Sisters from Zmijanje with their descendants by Rodoljub Oljaca and the expanded edition of Zmijanje writers, followers of Kočić by Vidosav Đurđević and Grozda Regodić.
Sisters from Zmijanje with their descendants tells the moving story of three sisters from Gornje Ratkovo whom their father brought on foot to Banja Luka and placed in service.
“The point is that the father, upon returning, died the very next day by the hearth of a heart attack caused by longing for his children. That prompted me, around 2010, to write this book, after I met a man from Sitnica who told me the story of the three sisters and their father as a legend,” the author said.
The reviewer of the book, Vidosav Đurđević, emphasized that the book should serve as an example of the importance of respecting the family.
“Sisters from Zmijanje should be an example of what it means to respect the family, to respect good and honorable people, to pray to God and believe that things will get better,” Đurđević said.
Zmijanje writers, followers of Kočić is an expanded edition that brings together the names of as many as 128 writers from Zmijanje and people originating from the area who, from the time of Petar Kočić to the present day, have written at least one book.
Co-author Vidosav Đurđević raised the question of what brought these people together to write.
“And what was it that brought these people together to write? You know, up there in Zmijanje in the past—although I was born in Banja Luka, my family is from Zmijanje—it was always, as Kočić said: Kočić, Kočić, and Kočić,” Đurđević noted.
Đurđević announced that in the next book, currently in preparation, he will attempt to present biographies of 252 doctors of science who originate from Zmijanje.
Source: RTRS
