Vasko Popa
Encyclopedia
Vasko Popa was a Serbia
n poet of Romanian
descent.
, Vojvodina
, Serbia. After finishing high school, he enrolled as a student of the University of Belgrade
Faculty of Philosophy
. He continued his studies at the University of Bucharest
and in Vienna
. During World War II
, he fought as a partisan and was imprisoned in a German concentration camp in Bečkerek (today Zrenjanin
, Serbia
).
After the war, in 1949, Popa graduated from the Romanic group of the Faculty of Philosophy at Belgrade University. He published his first poems in the magazines Književne novine (Literary Magazine) and the daily Borba
(Struggle).
From 1954 until 1979 he was the editor of the publishing house Nolit. In 1953 he published his first major verse collection, Kora (Bark). His other important work included Nepočin-polje (No-Rest Field, 1956), Sporedno nebo (Secondary Heaven, 1968), Uspravna zemlja (Earth Erect, 1972), Vučja so (Wolf Salt, 1975), and Od zlata jabuka (Apple of Gold, 1978), an anthology of Serbian folk literature. His Collected Poems, 1943–1976, a compilation in English translation, appeared in 1978, with an introduction by the British poet Ted Hughes
.
On May 29, 1972 Vasko Popa founded The Literary Municipality Vršac and originated a library of postcards, called Slobodno lišće (Free Leaves). In the same year, he was elected to become a member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
.
Vasko Popa is one of the founders of Vojvodina Academy of Sciences and Arts
, established on December 14, 1979 in Novi Sad
. He is the first laureate of the Branko’s award (Brankova nagrada) for poetry, established in honour of the poet Branko Radičević
. In the year 1957 Popa received another award for poetry, Zmaj’s Award (Zmajeva nagrada), which honours the poet Jovan Jovanović Zmaj
. In 1965 Popa received the Austrian state award for European literature
. In 1976 he received the Branko Miljković
poetry award, in 1978 the Yugoslav state AVNOJ
Award, and in 1983 the literary award Skender Kulenović
.
In 1995, the town of Vršac
established a poetry award named after Vasko Popa. It is awarded annually for the best book of poetry published in Serbian language
. The award ceremony is held on the day of Popa’s birthday, 29 June.
Vasko Popa died on January 5, 1991 in Belgrade
and is buried in the Aisle of the Deserving Citizens in Belgrade’s New Cemetery
.
and Serbia
n folk traditions (via the influence of Serbian poet Momčilo Nastasijević) and absolutely nothing to the Socialist Realism
that dominated Eastern European literature after World War II
; in fact, he was the first in post-World War II Yugoslavia to break with the Socialist Realism. He created a unique poetic language, mostly elliptical, that combines a modern form, often expressed through colloquial speech and common idioms and phrases, with old, oral folk traditions of Serbia – epic and lyric poems, stories, myths, riddles, etc. In his work, earthly and legendary motifs mix, myths come to surface from the collective subconscious, the inheritance and everyday are in constant interplay, and the abstract is reflected in the specific and concrete, forming a unique and extraordinary poetic dialectics.
Since his first book of verse, Kora (Bark), Vasko Popa has gained steadily in stature and popularity. His poetic achievement - eight volumes of verse written over a period of thirty eight years - has received extensive critical acclaim both in his native land and beyond. He is one of the most translated Serbian poets and at the time he had become one of the most influential World poets.
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...
n poet of Romanian
Romanians
The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....
descent.
Biography
Popa was born in the village of GrebenacGrebenac
Grebenac is a village in Vojvodina, Serbia. It is situated in the Bela Crkva municipality, in the South Banat District, Vojvodina province. The village has a Romanian ethnic majority and its population is 1,017 .-External links:*...
, Vojvodina
Vojvodina
Vojvodina, officially called Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province of Serbia. Its capital and largest city is Novi Sad...
, Serbia. After finishing high school, he enrolled as a student of the University of Belgrade
University of Belgrade
The University of Belgrade is the oldest and largest university of Serbia.Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it merged with the Kragujevac-based departments into a single university...
Faculty of Philosophy
University of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy
The University of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in Serbia, founded in the early 19th century within the Belgrade Higher School...
. He continued his studies at the University of Bucharest
University of Bucharest
The University of Bucharest , in Romania, is a university founded in 1864 by decree of Prince Alexander John Cuza to convert the former Saint Sava Academy into the current University of Bucharest.-Presentation:...
and in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he fought as a partisan and was imprisoned in a German concentration camp in Bečkerek (today Zrenjanin
Zrenjanin
Zrenjanin is a city and municipality located in the eastern part of Serbian province of Vojvodina. It is the administrative centre of the Central Banat District of Serbia...
, 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...
).
After the war, in 1949, Popa graduated from the Romanic group of the Faculty of Philosophy at Belgrade University. He published his first poems in the magazines Književne novine (Literary Magazine) and the daily Borba
Borba (newspaper)
Borba is a Serbian newspaper, formerly the official newspaper of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia...
(Struggle).
From 1954 until 1979 he was the editor of the publishing house Nolit. In 1953 he published his first major verse collection, Kora (Bark). His other important work included Nepočin-polje (No-Rest Field, 1956), Sporedno nebo (Secondary Heaven, 1968), Uspravna zemlja (Earth Erect, 1972), Vučja so (Wolf Salt, 1975), and Od zlata jabuka (Apple of Gold, 1978), an anthology of Serbian folk literature. His Collected Poems, 1943–1976, a compilation in English translation, appeared in 1978, with an introduction by the British poet Ted Hughes
Ted Hughes
Edward James Hughes OM , more commonly known as Ted Hughes, was an English poet and children's writer. Critics routinely rank him as one of the best poets of his generation. Hughes was British Poet Laureate from 1984 until his death.Hughes was married to American poet Sylvia Plath, from 1956 until...
.
On May 29, 1972 Vasko Popa founded The Literary Municipality Vršac and originated a library of postcards, called Slobodno lišće (Free Leaves). In the same year, he was elected to become a member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts is the most prominent academic institution in Serbia today...
.
Vasko Popa is one of the founders of Vojvodina Academy of Sciences and Arts
Vojvodina Academy of Sciences and Arts
Vojvodinian Academy of Sciences and Art or shortly...
, established on December 14, 1979 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....
. He is the first laureate of the Branko’s award (Brankova nagrada) for poetry, established in honour of the poet Branko Radičević
Branko Radicevic
Branko Radičević , an influential Serbian poet, within a short space of time contrived to enhance Serbian literature with several perennially attractive poems.- Biography:...
. In the year 1957 Popa received another award for poetry, Zmaj’s Award (Zmajeva nagrada), which honours the poet Jovan Jovanović Zmaj
Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj
Jovan Jovanović Zmaj was one of the best-known Serbian poets. He was a physician by profession, like his literary predecessor writer Jovan Stejić ....
. In 1965 Popa received the Austrian state award for European literature
Austrian State Prize for European Literature
The Austrian State Prize for European Literature , also known as the European Literary Award , is a literary prize in Austria awarded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Art to European writers...
. In 1976 he received the Branko Miljković
Branko Miljkovic
Branko Miljković was an iconic Serbian poet. He was best known across Yugoslavia and the Soviet bloc for his influential writings. He died prematurely in 1961 at the age of 27, found hanging from a tree in Zagreb, Croatia...
poetry award, in 1978 the Yugoslav state AVNOJ
AVNOJ
The Anti-Fascist Council of the People's Liberation of Yugoslavia, known more commonly by its Yugoslav abbreviation AVNOJ, was the political umbrella organization for the national liberation councils of the Yugoslav resistance against the World War II Axis occupation, eventually becoming the...
Award, and in 1983 the literary award Skender Kulenović
Skender Kulenovic
Skender Kulenović was a Bosnian poet, novelist and dramatist.-Background:Skender Kulenović was born in 1910 in the Bosnian town of Bosanski Petrovac, when Bosnia and Herzegovina was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Kulenović family was a Muslim land-owning family, though Skender’s parents ran...
.
In 1995, the town of Vršac
Vršac
Vršac is a town and municipality located in Serbia. In 2002 the town's total population was 36,623, while Vršac municipality had 54,369 inhabitants. Vršac is located in the Banat region, in the Vojvodina province of Serbia. It is part of the South Banat District.-Name:The name Vršac is of Serbian...
established a poetry award named after Vasko Popa. It is awarded annually for the best book of poetry published in Serbian language
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
. The award ceremony is held on the day of Popa’s birthday, 29 June.
Vasko Popa died on January 5, 1991 in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
and is buried in the Aisle of the Deserving Citizens in Belgrade’s New Cemetery
Novo groblje
Novo groblje is a cemetery complex in Belgrade, Serbia. It is located in Ruzveltova street in Zvezdara municipality. The cemetery was built in 1886 as the third Christian cemetery in Belgrade. The newly developed cemetery in that period had no chapel or church...
.
Style
Vasko Popa wrote in a succinct modernist style that owed much to surrealismSurrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
and 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...
n folk traditions (via the influence of Serbian poet Momčilo Nastasijević) and absolutely nothing to the Socialist Realism
Socialist realism
Socialist realism is a style of realistic art which was developed in the Soviet Union and became a dominant style in other communist countries. Socialist realism is a teleologically-oriented style having its purpose the furtherance of the goals of socialism and communism...
that dominated Eastern European literature after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
; in fact, he was the first in post-World War II Yugoslavia to break with the Socialist Realism. He created a unique poetic language, mostly elliptical, that combines a modern form, often expressed through colloquial speech and common idioms and phrases, with old, oral folk traditions of Serbia – epic and lyric poems, stories, myths, riddles, etc. In his work, earthly and legendary motifs mix, myths come to surface from the collective subconscious, the inheritance and everyday are in constant interplay, and the abstract is reflected in the specific and concrete, forming a unique and extraordinary poetic dialectics.
Since his first book of verse, Kora (Bark), Vasko Popa has gained steadily in stature and popularity. His poetic achievement - eight volumes of verse written over a period of thirty eight years - has received extensive critical acclaim both in his native land and beyond. He is one of the most translated Serbian poets and at the time he had become one of the most influential World poets.
Poetical oeuvre
- Kora (Bark), 1953
- Nepočin polje (No-rest Field),1965
- Sporedno nebo (Secondary Heaven), 1968
- Uspravna zemlja (Earth Erect) 1972
- Vučja so (Wolf’s Salt), 1975
- Kuća nasred druma (Home in the Middle of the Road), 1975
- Živo meso (Raw Meat), 1975
- Rez (The Cut), 1981
- Gvozdeni sad (Iron Plantage), unfinished
Collections oeuvre
- Od zlata jabuka (Apple of Gold), a collection of folk poems, tales, proverbs, riddles, and curses selected from the vast body of Yugoslav folk literature, 1958
- Urnebesnik: Zbornik pesničkog humora (Pealing Man: Collection of poetic Humour), a selection of Serbian wit and humor, 1960
- Ponoćno Sunce (Midnight Sun), a collection of poetic dream visions, 1962
Major literary works available in English
- The Star Wizard's Legacy: Six Poetic Sequences, trans. Morton MarcusMorton Marcus (poet)Morton Marcus was a poet and author having published more than 500 poems in literary journals across the country, including Poetry , TriQuarterly, Ploughshares, Chelsea, The Chicago Review, The Iowa Review, Zyzzyva, Poetry Northwest, and The Denver Quarterly...
(White Pine Press, 2010), ISBN 978-1-935210-11-5 - Collected Poems, Anvil Press Poetry, 1998
- Homage to the Lame Wolf: Selected Poems, trans. Charles Simic (Oberlin College Press, 1987), ISBN 0-932440-22-3
- Earth Erect, Anvil P Poetry, 1973
- Golden Apple, Anvil P Poetry, 1980
External links
- Biographical information
- Give Me Back My rags, Translated by Charles Simic
- Poem Hunter, All Poems of Vasko Popa
- A Shepherd of Wolves? Eleven Poems by Vasko Popa, translated by Anthony Weir
- Poem no. 22 from the "Far Inside Us" collection by Vasko Popa, translated by Lazar Pascanovic
- Poem "If not for Your Eyes" by Vasko Popa, translated by Lazar Pascanovic
- Poem "Kalenics" by Vasko Popa, translated by Lazar Pascanovic
- Vasko Popa in Persian Anthology of World Poetry
- Collection of poems by Vasko Popa in translation