Radmila Lazić

Contemporary Serbian author Radmila Lazić (1949) describes her poems as tending towards subjects that touch on taboos, both in literature and in life. Her poetry is very socially conscious, addressing the world directly, without mincing words, often provocatively and ironically, jokingly and rebelliously, emotionally – “but never sentimentally”, in Lazić’s own words. In addition to her extensive oeuvre of poetry, fiction and essays, Lazić has thus unsurprisingly played a significant part in the Serbian public sphere of the past few decades as an outspoken intellectual (ProFemina magazine, editor of the Femina series at Belgrade-based publisher Prosveta), an ardent advocate of women’s emancipation and gender equality and a campaigner for human rights. The titles of some of her books of poetry speak for themselves: This Is It (1974), The True State of Affairs (1978), The Distribution of Parts (1981), Excerpts from an Anamnesis (2000), Dorothy Parker Blues (2003 and 2004), In Vivo (2007). Her poetry has been translated into English by Charles Simic, a familiar guest at the Poetry and Wine Festival.