Gojko Čelebić (born 1958) is a Montenegrin writer and diplomat.

Čelebić was born in Podgorica

Podgorica

Podgorica , is the capital and largest city of Montenegro.Podgorica's favourable position at the confluence of the Ribnica and Morača rivers and the meeting point of the fertile Zeta Plain and Bjelopavlići Valley has encouraged settlement...

, Montenegro

Montenegro

Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...

 (at that time part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....

). He finished high school in Cetinje, Montenegro. Čelebić went on to study law in Novi Sad

Novi Sad

Novi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....

, Serbia

Serbia

Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

 and Podgorica, Montenegro. He then graduated from DAMU

Damu

In Sumerian mythology, Damu is a god of vegetation and rebirth. He is a son of Enki and Nininsinna,or Bau and Ninurta and he kept the sap flowing and helped to regulate the death-rebirth cycle of nature.Damu also seems to be a local offshoot of Tammuz....

 (Prague

Prague

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

, in that time Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...

) in 1989 with a degree in dramaturgy. During the dissident movement in East Europe, through which Čelebić build himself as a creator of similar works, beginning in the 1980s he directed numerous theatrical pieces of dissident writers and began to publish dramas, poetry, short stories and novels. He also spent some time as a Prague student in Schauspielhaus, Berlin in 1987 as he participated in a seminar on Bertolt Brecht

Bertolt Brecht

Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...

. In 1989 he received a masters in Prague through his thesis on Vsevolod Meyerhold

Vsevolod Meyerhold

Vsevolod Emilevich Meyerhold was a great Russian and Soviet theatre director, actor and theatrical producer. His provocative experiments dealing with physical being and symbolism in an unconventional theatre setting made him one of the seminal forces in modern international theatre.-Early...

.

Čelebić’s political career began with a position as the minister of culture in Montenegro, in the government of Prime Minister Milo Đukanović, a mandate that lasted from 1993-1996. Following which he served as the ambassador of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 for the period between 1998–2002, (submitted credentials to President Carlos Saúl Menem on the August 12, 1998). During the same period, Čelebić also served as a non-residing ambassador to Uruguay

Uruguay

Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...

, (submitted credentials to President Julio Maria Sanguinetti on the November 11, 1998). In addition, he served as a non-residing ambassador to Paraguay

Paraguay

Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...

 during the same time, (submitted credentials to the President Raúl Cubas Grau

Raúl Cubas Grau

Raúl Alberto Cubas Grau is a Paraguayan politician. He served as the President of Paraguay from 1998 until 1999. He was a member of the Colorado Party...

 on February 9, 1999). Following these mandates, he was appointed minister-counselor at the Embassy of Serbia and Montenegro in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 from 2005 until Montenegro’s Independence in 2006. Currently Čelebić serves as a Deputy Permanent Representative of Montenegro to the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

.

By a literary vocation, Čelebić is a novelist, channeling the traditional European philosophical novel. Nevertheless, his literary historical interests are linked to European baroque, and aspects related to south Slavic languages and culture, especially things dealing with medieval and baroque Kotor

Kotor

Kotor is a coastal city in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Gulf of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative center of the municipality....

. The most significant influence on his literary development, which became evident in his work, was the American (and later European) Hippie movement. In addition, the dissident literature such as that of Milovan Djilas and Vladimir Nabokov

Vladimir Nabokov

Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov was a multilingual Russian novelist and short story writer. Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Russian, then rose to international prominence as a master English prose stylist...

 as well as numerous writers of his own generation in Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, and Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 have been very significant in the process of his artistic creation.

In the beginning of the 1990,’s Čelebić founded and directed two anthological projects. The first was a collection of novel published in twenty volumes, which presents the anthology of Montenegrian novels in the 20th century. The second, of which he is also the creator, is a complete anthology of the Montenegrin literature

Montenegrin literature

Montenegrin literature is the literature written in the South Slavic country of Montenegro, mainly in Montenegrin language.-Characteristics:...

that has been in development for the last thousand years. These works were created in four languages: Latin, Italian, Serbian and Church Slavonic. It has also been published by his conduct in twenty-three volumes in a collection entitled Literature of Montenegro 12th to 19th century.
Čelebić is a polyglot (fluent in English, French, Czech, Russian, and Spanish).

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The following is a list of Čelebić’s published works by their year of appearance

Novels:
A Heroic Novel about Women’s Tears (Viteski roman o ženskim suzama) 1983
The Murder of A.G. W and Persecution (Ubistvo A. G. W. i gonjenje) 1988
Mature Herta (Zrela Herta) 1989
Pseudo, 1994
City Club, 1995
Spiders (Pauci), 1997
Lightening (Grom) 2003
Twins (Blizanci) 2004
Buried, Listen (Pokopani, čujte) 2006

Collection of Short Stories:
A Farewell from the King (Oproštaj od kralja) 1992
The Atlantic Waves (Valovi Atlantika) 2001
Candidacy (Kandidatura) 2003
Dust in Love (Zaljubljeni prah) 2004
Bohemian Season (Boemska sezona) 2007

Poetry:
Lira in Purgatory (Lira u čistilištu) 1982

Drama:
Baroque (Barok) 1995

Selected works:
Selected works of Gojko Čelebić 1-10 (Odabrana djela Gojka Čelebića I – X) 2004

Bibliography:

Čelebić’s bibliographies, that is special publishings of his books, translations, essays, dramas, criticism, political pieces, translations of his work in numerous languages, newspaper articles, reviews, etc. written between 1976-2004 total 416 titles.

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Selected References

1. Pseudo
Theatrical Novel-4th edition—Novi Sad: Prometej; Belgrade: Prosveta, 1997. Pg. 324 (Novels/Gojko Čelebić). Notes on the writer pg. 321.
In Ah, Marija (Sofija)—Year 9, number 2. (1996) pg. 299-308. Translated by: Aleksandra Liven.
2. Baroque – Theatrical piece—Sremski Karlovci: Krovovi: Culture Center “Karlovci’s art workshop” 1995. (Apatin—Novi Sad: King of Whiteness) –pg. 164. (Library of modern literature) Notes on the writer pg. 162.

3. IL FUCILE
In: Orme sull’ Adriatico: Poesia del-la Puglia e del Montenegro/ Scelta degli autori montenegrini: Steve Kordić; traduzioni in italiano e dall/ italiano: Dragan Mraović—Nikšic: Univerzitetska riječ; Bari: La valissa, 1990, pg. 62. Songs.

4. The Welcoming in the name of the City
In: Anthology of modern Montenegrian stories/ prepared by: Slobodan Kalezić and Vojislav D. Nikčević—Cetinje: Obod; Podgorica: Pobjeda, 1996, pg. 431-444.

5. Reservist
In: Sovremenaya (Moscow) Number 2 (1996), pg. 131-153. Drama—Translated by: Natalija Vagapova.

6 BORHES & Zmajević
In: Jorge Luis Borges: Works of international literature and science meeting dedicated to H.L. Borges held on the 24 and 25 September in 1996, in Belgrade and other texts. Prepared by: Radivoje Konstantinović, Filip Matić, Marko Nedić—Belgrade: Institute for textbooks and other teaching material: Serbian cooperative for literature: Partenrship of Yugoslavia and Latin America, 1997 pg. 161-166.

7. Intolerance
In: New Macedonia –(1997). Selections from the novel “Pseudo”.

8. Literature Montenegro: (krimipovidka)
In: Souvislosti (revue pro kŕestanství a kulturu). –Number 3-4 (1997), pg. 277-289. Translated by: Lenka Blechova

9. City Club: Literárni text.
In: Literarni noviny (Czech) Edition 11, Number 40 (2000), Pg.10. Translated by: Lenka Blechova.

10. The Atlantic Waves
In: Montenegrian Erotic Stories. Editor: Jovan Nikolaidis—Ulcinj:Plima, 2000, pg. 33-51. Story.
11. Symbols in Poetry of Joseph Brodsky
In: Pobjeda—Edition 26, Number 5329 (4.X 1980), pg. 12. Notes on the element of darkness in literary songs “Station in the desert”

12. I’m an intellectual, but that is a matter of reading.
In: Pobjeda, Edition 42, Number 7208 (29.XII 1985), pg.11
The talk with the Czech author Bohumil Hrabal was led by Gojko Čelebić.

13. Nabokov
In: Ovdje (Here)—Edition 21, Number 244-245(1989), pg.40
In his own creativity
14. Word of the word
In: Pobjeda: Edition 47, number 9935 (31. VII 1993), pg. 7.
On the fifth century anniversary of Montenegrian press

15. Karel Čapek
In: Kompozitor Foltin/Karel Čapek—Belgrade; Rad, 1990, pg.111-115.
About the makings of K. Čapek

16. Short history of Montenegro
In: Royal Theatre “Zeta Hall”, Cetinje, 1996 pg.2-10.

17. Draperies
In: Stvaranje— Edition 52. Number 11-12 (1997), pg.1185-1186.
About the artist Savo Braunović

18. Milovan Djilas: Un destino disidente.
In: Revista diplomatica Placet—Number 117 (2001).

19. Review of the American Drama
In: Pobjeda, Edition 45, Number 8443 (3. VI 1989), pg.13.
About the music festival “Prague Spring” and the current cultural happening is Prague.

20. MEYERCHOLOMASCHINE The culture of totalitarianism
In: Stvaranje, Edition 44 Number 1 (1990) pg. 97-125.
“Hrestomatija uz Mejerholjdova ‘Revizora’”

21. EGZEKUTORI
In: Grand Theater Budva 1987—1996 First 10 years. Prepared by: Jovan Cirilov, Feliks Pašić--Budva, Grand Theater 1998, pg.72.
Performance based on the work of Harold Pinter. Directed by Gojko Celebic in the Montenegrian National Theater. (1993)

22. PARK
In: The Gran Theater Budva 1987-1996, first 10 years. Prepared by Čirilov, Feliks Pašić—Budva, Grand Theater, 1998, pg.56. Performance based on Skeaksear’s “Dream of a summer night” directed by Gojko Čelebić, and ran by the Herzegovian National Theater. (1990)

23. SEIFERT, Jaroslav Songs/ Jaroslav Seifert
In: Ovdje—Edition 17, Number 189 (1985) pg. 11. Contains the following songs: The tomb of mister Casanova, The ring of king Otakar I, Compound source, Cashmere scarf. Translated by: Gojko Čelebić.

24. ECO, Umberto
Simiotica insenacije/ Umberto Eco
In: Stvaranje—Edition 44, Number 1 (1989), pg.74-82.
Translated from French by: Gojko Čelebić.

25. Bolica, Ivan Bona, Description of Ivan Bona Bolica.
In: Pobjeda—Edition 52, Number 11083 (19.X1996), pg.15. In the seventh volume edition of “Literature of Montenegro XII-XIX century” first time in the adoption of Gojko Čelebić, you will find the poem of a Kotor poet from the 16th century.

26. Creando en una de las esquinas del mundo.
In: Lecturas de los Domingos—Edition 3, Number 162 (30. IV 2000), pg.8-9. Con Gojko Čelebić, escritor y embajador Yugoslavo (interview).

27. Pavkovic, Vasa
Evil and tittup of stories/Vasa Pavković.
In: Politika—Edition 60, Number 28686 (21. VIII 1993), pg.16. About Gojko Čelebić’s novel, “A farewell from the king”.

28. Ćirilov, Jovan. When the minister writes…/Jovan Ćirilov
In: Politika—Edition 61, Number 28996 (9. VII 1994), pg.14. With regard to the works of Gojko Čelebić.

29. Jerkov, Aleksandar. Minister—Novel/ Aleksandar Jerkov.
In: Borba—Edition 72, Number 220 (11. VIII 1994) addition to World book, pg.3. About the novel “Pseudo”.

30. Pavković, Vasa Fishes Plamičak Čirak/ Vasa Pavković.
In: Pobjeda—Edition 51, Number 10393 (12. XI 1994), pg.11. Novel in Montenegro: Gojko Čelebić.

31. Brajović, Tihomir. Traveling at the end of an illusion/ Tihomir Brajović.
In: NIN, Number 2347(22. XII 1995), pg. 43. About Gojko Čelebić’s book “City Club”.

32. Pavić, Milorad Notes accompanying Čelebić’s theatrical novel/ Milorad Pavić.
In: Pobjeda—Edition 52, Number 10998 (25. VI 1996), pg. 10.
Also
In: Stvaranje—Edition 51, Number 8-12 (1996), pg. 899-900.

33. Vagapova, Natalija V plenu svoey sudby/ Natalija Vagapova.
In:Pobjeda—Edition 52, Number.11105 (9. XI 1996), pg.130. Regarding the dramas of Gojko Čelebić.

34. Popović, Branko. Gojko Čelebić: “City Club”, Belgrade, 1995/ Branko Popović.
In: Leyopis Matice Srpske. Edition 173, book 459, Number 1-2 (1997), pg. 180-186.

35. REĐEP, Draško, A never ending sail/ Drasko Ređep.
In: Luča (Nikšic)—Edition 6, Number 6-7 (1997), pg. 11-13. About the novel “Morder of A.G.W. and persecution”.

36. Stojkovska, Gordana Pseudo-Marker na granicnoto iskustvo/ Gordana Stojkovska.
In: New Macedonija—(1997).
Kon deloto na Gojko Čelebić.

37. Asumieron los embajadores de Italia, Yugoslavia y Rumania.
In: La Revista Diplomatica—Edition 20, Number 87 (1998), pg.7.
Yugoslavia-Gojko Čelebić.