New book: Songs of the City by Ivan Sajko

The meeting, which will be hosted by Edward Pasewicz, will be attended by the author of the book Ivana Sajko and the author of the translation into Polish, Gabriela Abrasowicz. Fragments of the author's dramas will be read by the actors of Nowy Teatr: Maja Ostaszewska and Jacek Maundy.

ADiT Publishing House and Nowy Teatr invite you to a discussion about the premiere of the book by Ivana Sajko, Songs of the City, translated by Gabriela Abrasovicz.

In addition to the discussion with the author and translator, led by Edward Pasewicz, there will be a performative reading of fragments of texts performed by Mai Ostaszewska and Jacek Mondayek accompanied by live music performed by Edward Pasewicz.

Songs of the City is a collection of four innovative and moving dramas that have already enjoyed spectacular success on the most important European theatre stages, complemented by a foreword by the author and MP Gabriela Abrasovicz.

The main focus of the book is a trilogy entitled City of Good Hope (Grad of Good Hope), which consists of plays: Song of the City (It's Not for You), Songplay: One Second for Weasels, and This is not a spectacle about your beauty — a guide to the city and the forest. The collection closes with the award-winning piece #jeanne, prompting a deep reflection on the place of the individual in the era of late capitalism, outlining a fairytale and at the same time apocalyptic vision of reality.

The works collected in the Songs of the City are a literary and theatrical reaction to the brutality and violence of the last decade. The author exposes with unparalleled precision the dynamics of European politics, growing social divisions, religious prejudices and the widespread politics of fear. Ivana Sajko's dramas do not focus on traditionally understood characters, but construct intense situations, giving voice to marginalized destinies. Using references to pop culture, film, poetry and the harsh realities of the big city, the author forces us to confront uncomfortable truths about our society.

Songs of the City is a must-read for lovers of contemporary drama and theatre seeking in art a space for critical thinking and hope that humanity will be able to learn to live together.

The book was published with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia.

Ivana Sajko is a Croatian playwright, writer, playwright, director and performer. Her plays appear on the boards of theaters and on the air of radio programs around the world. They have been translated into more than a dozen languages. Sajko is a laureate of many prestigious awards for playwright's work. She has repeatedly staged her plays herself, giving them hybrid forms, experimenting with the issue of the relationship between dramatic text, performance and music. Her performances were then referred to as self-referential or concert readings. Since 2016 he has been living in Berlin, where he continues his literary and artistic career. Gabriela Abrasowicz — doctor of humanities in the field of literary studies, Slavist. Author of the books Body Drama. The body in drama. The work of Serbian and Croatian playwrights in the years 1990—2010 (2016) and (Trans) positions of ideas in post-Yugoslav playwriting and theater (1990—2020). A transcultural perspective (2021), as well as articles devoted to the analysis of playwriting and theatrical production in the countries of the former Yugoslavia from the perspective of anthropology of the body and transculturation. She translates Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian and Montenegrin dramatic texts into Polish. The dramas she translated won awards in competitions of international scope.

with live translation by Zofia Korzeniewska (Embassy of the Republic of Croatia)

Edward Pasewicz - poet, prose writer, playwright and composer. Winner of the Angelus Central European Literary Prize for the novel Pulverkopf (2022). Author of volumes of poetry, prose and dramas, nominated for the Nike, Gdynia and Silesius awards. His poems have been translated into many languages.