The annual award of the Writers’ Association of Republika Srpska for the best book published in 2025 was presented on Sunday evening at the National and University Library of Republika Srpska in Banja Luka. The prize was shared equally between Slobodan Ristović for his poetry collection Homeland Crow and Dragan Tepavčević for his novel The Singer.
Speaking to reporters, Ristović said that every award carries significance and represents an honour and satisfaction for the recipient.
“I have never been among those writers who push themselves to the front in pursuit of awards. That is simply not my nature. As a child, my mother taught me that if I ever gained importance, I should never misuse it. I still follow that advice today,” Ristović said.
He added that Homeland Crow emerged from a vivid and memorable image from his native region.
Dragan Tepavčević expressed satisfaction at receiving the Writers’ Association’s annual award for the second time, recalling that he first won it in 2016 for his novel A City for Uncared-for Children.
According to Tepavčević, the award-winning novel The Singer is perhaps his most authentic literary work and is based on a documentary story he encountered while working for the documentary programme of Radio Television of Republika Srpska in 1998.
“That harrowing story remained within me for 26 years before I presented it to the public in a different form. I am also pleased to share this award with Slobodan Ristović, about whom I wrote in 2013 in the third book and the only literary study I have published,” Tepavčević said.
Chairwoman of the jury Sanja Macura stated that 25 books were nominated for this year’s award and that Homeland Crow and The Singer quickly emerged as the leading candidates.
“These two books were clearly the strongest entries. The Singer stands out in prose, while Homeland Crow excels in poetry. Both authors speak through an authentic literary voice and bring something genuinely new to our literature,” Macura said.
She noted that Ristović’s poetry revives a rich vocabulary that has largely fallen out of use and is rarely encountered in contemporary poetic expression.
“With Dragan Tepavčević, the sentence is always refined and the style exceptional. The way he structures and writes his novels makes them consistently engaging and widely read,” she added.
Macura also pointed out an interesting connection between the two laureates: twelve years ago, Dragan Tepavčević published a book dedicated to Slobodan Ristović and his poetic work.
Source: Glas Srpske
