Istros Conversations

They say that author Chrysoula Georgoula has written a pitch-perfect portrayal of the male psyche, of a certain kind of Greek male, often with brutal authenticity. We find out what inspired her, and why 'Call Me Stratos' is not just a good read, it is a vivid portrayal of some of the most important aspects of Greek society.

An interview with Jurica Pavičić, Croatian journalist and crime author

A conversation with the author of 'In Late Summer', a novel published by Linden Editions, 2025.

The news of his mother's death finds the writer in Budapest and prompts the opening of an old black box of family mementos. Inevitably, this leads to an unravelling of multi-layered stories and an investigation into everyday lives and times that no longer exists. Christina Pribichevich-Zorić gives us her perspective, as the translator, on this gentle novel: the search for a lost mother, the story...

Macedonian writer and poet, Lidija Dimkovska, talks to Lana Lazarevski about her latest novel, which takes the reader from a love affair on the Dalmatian coast during WWII to the wilds of Sicily where the young couple move from armies to mafia and a new life coloured by the old... 'Grandma Non-Oui' is published on Sept 1st, 2024 Translated by Christina E Kramer

Çiler Ilhan writes about what most writers avoid: the maltreatment of women - and of dogs - family feuds fuelled by government policy, the suffering of children...For her first collection of short stories ( Exile , Istros 2015), she was awarded the EU Prize for Literature . With her latest novella, Engagement , she delves into the mechanisms at work behind a massacre which took place in the east o...

Host Laura López speaks with Croatian author Lada Vukić and translator Christina Zorić, who also serves as live interpreter in this conversation. They discuss their shimmering novel, Special Needs, as well as the situation of Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian translation in literature. This episode has been kindly shared by Trafika Europe - https://www.trafikaeurope.org/podcast/women-in-translation

'The Fig Tree' by Slovene author Goran Vojnović is an intergenerational family saga, set against the backdrop of the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. Host Joe Williams talks to Goran and translator Olivia Hellewell about the book’s narrative structure and themes, and the challenges of reproducing the Balkan context of the book for an English-language audience This podcast is re-posted here from T...

For decades, Mitja Čander has been one of the most influential figures in Slovenia’s literary and publishing world – even though his literary debut, Blind Man ( Slepec ), appeared only in 2019. An editor and literary critic, the co-founder and director of Beletrina Academic Press, essayist, screenwriter, dramaturge, columnist, and candidate for national chess master.  Here in conversation with the...

On the occasion of International Holocaust Memorial Day 2021, we launch a new collection of stories from the Romanian/Jewish writer, Ludovic Bruckstein. Erased from the national literature when he moved to Israel in the 70s, Bruckstein’s plays and prose writing remained undiscovered for half a century. We talk to his son about the life and work of this father's extraoridnary legacy.

The author of THE MASOCHIST talks about her writing, the publication of her fist novel and the sense of home for a person who lives abroad This episode was recorded as part of Trafika Europe Radio's The Middle Ground series, exploring the literature of Central and Eastern Europe. See more at https://www.trafikaeurope.org/podcast/the-middle-ground/?c=04007ae3e449

An interview with Olja Knežević about her novel Catherine the Great and the Small , together with her translators, Paula Gordon & Ellen Elias-Bursać  Re-posted with the kind permission of the Intralingo World Lit Podcast series

Re-posted from Lit_Cast Slovakia podcast series

Christina Zoric and Stephen Watts discuss the author of 'Our Daily Bread', Predrag Matvejević, a European academic and writer whose life and work were committed to cross-cultural pollination and furthering understanding in our common humanity. Join us as we discuss this uniquely meditative history of bread and its long-standing importance to peoples and faiths across the Mediterranean and beyond.

This episode was originally produced for Trafika Europe Radio's Women in Translation series: https://trafikaeurope.org/go/radio

Author Olja Knezevic talks about writing as a woman and the importance of finding one's own space; the dangers of national identities, and how a Creative Writing MA at Birkbeck (University of London) helped her find her true voice

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Rawley Grau - in town to attend the Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize ceremony - talks to poet and editor, Stephen Watts about his translation of the novel PANORAMA by Dušan Šarotar. Rawley is one of the finest translators working from Slovene into English today, and his work has included prose from Boris Pintar, plays by Ivan Cankar, and essays by Aleš Debeljak. Panorama is his second book tran...

The Slovenian writer Aleš Šteger talks to poet and translator, Stephen Watts about his debut novel, Absolution. In the tradition of Bulgakov and Gogol, Šteger lets the forces of good and evil collide in this grandiose literary thriller. This is a debut novel filled with striking personae, haunting images and a grotesque plot. It proves, in the end, to be a journey into the heart of a European dark...

'Burying the Season' is an affectionate, multi-layered account of small town life in central Europe in the 20th century, just out from Jantar publishing. Listen to Rajendra Chitnis of Bristol University read from his foreword to the book, and tell us how Fellini’s Amarcord and Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons play a role in the lives of the citizens of Zlin, as they navigate through turbulent...

Novelist and poet, Dušan Šarotar, talks to fellow poet Stephen Watts about migration, translation, and trying to find words which go beyond pictures: all themes in his latest novel, 'Panorama'. Come and join us on Red Lion Square for a conversation about all the joys of collaboration and the subtleties of language. #DušanŠarota #Slovenia #translation #StephenWatts #poetry

Philosophers Nigel Warburton and Slavoj Žižek join Jela Krečič to discuss her new novel, ‘None Like Her’, a hapless tale of the fruitless search for a perfect partner. The nature of love and marriage, as well as comedy are hot topics of discussion! The book is published this November by Istros Books in cooperation with Peter Owen Publishers as part of the Peter Owen World Series: Slovenian Season...

One of Croatia's most renowned novelists and playwrights, Daša Drndić, took time out to drink cocktails with us and talk literature, translation and the rhythm inherent in our personal language. With two novels already out in English translation with Maclehose Press, and a short-listing for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize under her belt, Daša's new book, EEG, promises to be just as challengi...

Author Evelyn Farr talks about about her latest book, 'I Love you Madly' (Peter Owen, August 2016) - which brings together the collected letters of Marie- Antoinette and her Swedish lover, Count Fersen. Written in both French and English editions by the author, this is a book which will change perceptions of the French queen for ever. Listen to the story of how Evelyn discovered and broke the secr...

Translators Mevlut Ceylan, Christopher Buxton, Stephen Watts and John Hodgson in conversation with Christina Pribicevich- Zoric discuss their experience of bringing the Balkans westwards through translation. Should translators be slavish to the original or write for their new readers? Can a translator know a language 'too well'? A panel discussion on whether translators aim to be invisible or cons...