Snjezana Marinkovic
Author, Novelist, Poet
United StatesBiography
For sixteen years of my life Yugoslavia was my country, Serbo-Croatian was my language, and my name Snjezana, meaning Snow-White, was commonly Yugoslavian. Then everything changed. Territory was divided, cities were renamed, people ethnically labeled, and many of “Snow-White’s dwarfs” took guns and became soldiers. Conflicts and violence spread as deadly disease and Yugoslavia became a war-devastated country. But, I was among people who got the opportunity to survive, to find their refuge, and to tell their stories.
My writing was published in numerous European publications including magazines San, Ty& Ja, Pribechy Lasky, Lasky Do Kabelky, and Divka. In 1996, I received Frintiskove Lazne Prize for Literature. My stories and poems were read on Radio Sarajevo in Yugoslavia, Radio Brno, Radio Plzen, and RCT 1 television program in the Czech Republic, and Literary Event of Brookhaven College in Farmers Branch, Texas.
Currently, I focus on conveying a message of peace, I write, and I enjoy my life, without the dwarfs and without a fairy tale.
Books by Snjezana Marinkovic
Gregory Torti may not have the perfect past, but learned from his mistakes and was ready to move on. The justice system had a different idea of him, and no matter the facts it was willing to cast aside reasonable doubt. This is a true story of his battle against injustice in his struggle for real freedom.
My grandmother, my Dawn, lived a life of struggle and conflict – many wars, torn families, and constant displacement. Her views helped shaped my understanding of the world and inspired me to be content with less. She taught me that it is possible to wish everyone well, even if our own lives are less than perfect and in total disarray. She also taught me that it is possible to love in that moment when we are the least loved.
When wars end, violence stays alive. The roads toward peace and significance still lead nowhere. Perhaps the aftermath is the best time to blame those who refused to carry guns and take sides. How do you deaden the pain of trusting somebody who is trying to destroy you? How are you to know the difference when your enemy says he loves you? And so begins the battle for survival.
When first barricades and first gun shots occurred in the capitol of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo, I was seventeen years old. It was the year 1992, and one of the worst mass killings in the history of mankind began. At that time, my family, my friends, my neighbors, and I were still unaware that we will lose all privileges related to peace ...