DIWAN - CASOPIS ZA KULTURU

| DIWAN 5-6 |

EDITORIAL

Dear & esteemed reader!

I am honored to address you as the editor o fthis publication for the second time during the year already. Believe me, it is quite an achievement: Diwan has survived at the time when far more influential (perhaps more important) publications such as Oslobođenje almost disappeared; at the time when two honorable writers Ilija Ladin and Daco Džamonja passed away in silence. Frankly, we have not managed to publish more than a double issue of Diwan, but we would not have done even that much (Gradačac Literary Gatherings took place with a 5-month delay) if it had not been for new, enthusiastic members of our editorial staff. Best regards, therefore, to Aleksandra Čvorović & Željko Grahovac & Dragan Šimović, who supplied us with plenty of exclusive articles for this issue...

It is my pleasure to announce that in Diwan, whose cover pages you are looking at, you can find authors of all generations and aesthetic orientations from the whole of BiH, ex-Yugoslav states as well as the authors from the Netherlands (Arnon Grunberg) and Poland (Lukasz Szopa). Among all of them some young authors stand out, members of the project Literary Association (Literarni Konzorcij), and members of the digital magazine LitKon (www.litkon.org). They are: Snežana Žabić, Goran Pajkić, Jovanka Uljarević, Igor Isakovski and Mehmed Begić. I would like to place special emphasis on two extraordinary poets: Tanja Stupar and already praised Aca Čvorović from Banja Luka.

However, I invite you to read carefully the poems by Dragan Marijanović, Miro Petrović, Atif Kujundžić and Dragan Simović. This Herzegovinian-Bosnian presentation is fraught with gorgeous style, overflowing emotions and unobtrusive irony. Novelists are just as good as the poets: ladies -Ferida Duraković & Ljubica Žikić, and gentlemen - Zilhad Ključanin & Goran Sarić. They addressed an issue of Tito's future/past time: and we, the editorial staff, found a genuine illustration, an intriguing and provocative photograph in which the charismatic leader from Croatian region Zagorje, who especially liked hunting, is shown at his everyday activities.

One particular section of this publication deals with identity of Bosnia and Bosniaks. Enes Kujundžić, Husnija Kamberović, Munib Maglajlić, Esad Zgodić, Alija H. Dubočanin, Hadžem Hajdarević i Željko Grahovac wrote powerful and inspired words. Those are the words you may not agree with, but they are undoubtedly the words that are topical and worthy ofour discussion. Diwan stresses the fact that the days when editors were imposing an agenda upon authors' and readers were 'braimvashed' by authors, are the matter of the past. We insist: in accordance with the purpose of a publication, Diwan must address the problematic issues of standpoints and solutions, and must give everyone a chance to express their own opinion if disagree with what they read.

We hold a view that the question of identity is the key problem of Bosnian cultural and political crisis. After the failure of Tito's Yugoslavia. the crash of identity led to a situation where local values terrorize universal ones and where fascistization of the nations took place. In that context, it is inappropriate to compare Yugoslavian syndrome with destiny of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bosnia, as a cultural and political structure, is even older than its peoples, therefore older than a complex, newly-formed state such was the first Yugoslavia, which was formed in 1918 not by political leaders from BiH, but 'the nation-building trinity' from Serbia, Croatia & Slovenia. This is why none ofthe Bosnia's nations has the right neither to domineer over others nor to separate from them. However, it is the right of every nation to protect the Homeland and to cherish all the qualities of Hers.

We organized a round table in October with writers who participated at Gradačac Literary Gatherings. They discussed the subject- Literary Gatherings in BiH: Pluralism. Differences. The participants were: Nijaz Alispahić, Irfan Horozović, Velimir Milošević, Atif Kujundžić, Željko Grahovac, Zlatko Dukić and Šimo Ešić. Your editor, Dinko Delić, was the mediator and two more writers, Aleksandra Čvorović & Ibrahim Kajan made their contribution to the discussion later on. We are aiming to start a public discussion on the role ofliterary events in cultural and everyday life of our municipality, canton & entity. We are aware that our local politicians have not (often) distanced themselves from socialist-realist ideologies in their approach to art; for example, one should be a faithful servant of (one's own) people & national political leadership.

Sulejman Bosto wrote an article on graphics by Avdo Žiga. We 'borrowed' several of those graphics in order to illustrate some pages that 'lacked' letters. Amir Brka & Željko Grahovac wrote the outline of some good books and -that is it, you have read us from cover to cover.

May you have a pleasure with our company just as I enjoyed editing this No 5-6, double issue of Diwan.

Tuzla, December 26, 2001

Dinko Delić