For the seventh consecutive year, Canada will present authors, illustrators, publishers, and new Canadian titles translated into Serbian at the Belgrade International Book Fair.

Canadian literature will be supported by the presence of Andrew Davidson, Pan Bouyoucas, David Albahari, Téo Spychalski, Claude Lalumière, and Dusan Petricic. Ten Canadian publishers will display their wares at the Canada stand in Hall 2a of the Belgrade Fairgrounds, along with the Canada Council for the Arts, the Association for the Export of Canadian Books, and the Quebec International Book Fair. Numerous new Canadian titles translated into Serbian will also be on display.

On Thursday, October 29, children of all ages will enjoy School Day at the Book Fair, for which the Canada stand will feature quizzes on Canada, drawing activities, and prizes. Additionally, students will be able to receive information on studying in Canada.

The Embassy of Canada will hold a press conference on Tuesday, October 27, at 11:00 in the "Slobodan Selenic" conference room, Hall 2a, highlighting our guests from Canada. During the Fair, the Canada stand will host book signing events in the presence of the participating Canadian authors and their Serbian publishers, as well as individual book launches in the "Borislav Pekic" conference room.

PAN BUJUKAS (PAN BOUYOUCAS)

Pan Bouyoucas was born in Lebanon, of Greek parents, in 1946, and came to Canada in 1963.

After studies in architecture, in Montreal and New York City, he obtained a BFA (theatre and film) at Concordia University, and worked a few years as a film critic.

He published his first novel in 1975. In Montreal, he wrote mostly for the theatre, in English and French, as writer-in-residence at Centaur Theatre, then Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui. Since 1995, he has written six novels, a collection of short stories, and a book for children.

Novels:

• The Man Who Wanted to Drink Up the Sea, (2006),
• Anna Pourquoi, (2004), Finalist, Prix des collégiens , Winner, Prix littéraire des collégiens, Finalist, Le livre élu, France, (2005),
• L'Autre, (2001) , Finalist, The Governor General’s Literary Awards, Finalist, The Prix Marcel-Couture du Salon du Livre de Montréal
• La Vengeance d'un Père, (1997) published as A Father's Revenge, (2001), Finalist, The Prix Ringuet de l’Académie des lettres du Québec,
• L'Humoriste et L'Assassin, (1996 and Club Québec-Loisirs, 1997),
• Une Bataille d'Amérique Editions Quinze, (1976),
• Le Dernier Souffle Editions du Jour, (1975),
• Docteur Loukoum, (2000)

Children's books:

• Thésée et le Minotaure, (2003), Finalist, The Governor General’s Literary Awards

Theatre:

• Hypatie, (Prix Journées d'auteurs, 1999, Lyon), will be performed in Marseilles in January 2010 as part of Marseille-Provence Euroepan Capital of Culture,
• Nocturne, Lionel, (1994),
• Le Cerf-Volant, Three Cops on a Roof, (1990),
• Divided We Stand (original title for Montreal's Centaur Theatre production: From the Main to Mainstreet), Kill the Music-Screener's Award, Quebec Drama Festival, (1986), Le Pourboire-First prize, Concours Radiophonique de Radio-Canada; and  Concours de la Communauté radiophonique des programmes de langue française, Paris, 1983

Translated into Serbian:

• Hypatie (2004, Filip Višnjić)
• The Man Who Wanted To Drink Up The Sea (2006, Filip Višnjić),
• Thésée et le Minotaure (2007, Nolit),
• Anna Pourquoi (2009, Albatros plus)

ANDREW DAVIDSON

Andrew Davidson was born in Pinawa, Manitoba, and graduated in 1995 from the University of British Columbia with a B.A. in English literature. In 1999 he moved to Japan where he worked as a teacher for five years. After returning to Canada in 2004, he continued to work as a writer of English lessons for Japanese Web sites. Davidson lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

The Gargoyle, the product of seven years' worth of research and composition, is his first book. The book was first sold to Random House Canada in late 2006. Two further editions were published by American publisher Doubleday, and UK publisher Canongate.

The book was published in August of 2008. It landed on the New York Times bestseller list in America, was a number one bestseller in Canada, and was selected for the Richard and Judy book club in the U.K. In addition to English, translation rights have been sold for 29 languages, including Serbian.

The book is published in Serbian by the Serbian publisher "Alnari" as Poslednji anđeo.

"Once launched into this intense tale of unconventional romance, few readers will want to put it down." Publishers Weekly

CLAUDE LALUMIÈRE

Claude Lalumière is a writer and editor from Montreal.

He has edited eight anthologies:

• Telling Stories: New English Fiction from Québec,
• Witpunk,
• Island Dreams: Montreal Writers of the Fantastic,
• Open Space: New Canadian Fantastic Fiction,
• Short Stuff: New English Stories from Québec,
• Lust for Life: Tales of Sex & Love,
• In Other Words: New English Writing from Québec,
• and  the Aurora Award-nominated Tesseracts Twelve: New Novellas of Canadian Fantastic Fiction.

He has published more than 30 stories internationally, has been anthologized in several "best of" volumes, and has had stories translated into French, Italian, and Polish.

He's the author of the story collection Objects of Worship, which has been called "intensely memorable" (Publishers Weekly), "nuanced ... sparse ... inventive" (The Link), and "highly enjoyable" (The Montreal Mirror).

TÉO SPYCHALSKI

Born in Poland, Téo Spychalski studied at the Faculty of Philology of the Nikolas-Kopernic University in Torun where he specialized in drama arts.. He got his M.A. degree on the works by the Theatre Laboratory of Jerzy Grotowski.

In 1967 he became a member of the Theatre Laboratory of Wroclaw and for fourteen years he assisted Grotowski with his theatre work. In 1973 he became a Director of the International Studio. Afterwards up to 1980, he was involved in the elaboration of the post-theatracal phase of the Grotowski Institute.

In 1982 when he joined La Groupe de la Veillée, a new period began for this company which was marked by a creation of theatre works created by an adaptation of world literature. He contributed to a general development of theatre through new theatre expressions. He is currently engaged as the artistic director of the Prospero Theatre in Montreal. He is coming to Belgrade to promote and direct theatre plays by Canadian playwright Daniel Danis published in Serbian by Nolit.

Stage adaptations:

• Till l'Espiègle based on Nijinski’s Journal (1982)
• L'idiot by Dostoyevski (1983)- more than 100 performance both in Canada and Europe
• Un bal nommé Balzac based on La Peau de chagrin by Balzac (1986)
• Les cahiers de Malte Laurids Brigge by Rainer Maria Rilke
• La guerre based on Voyage au bout de la nuit by Céline (1991)
• La Faim by Knut Hamsun (1996)
• Les Démons by Dostoyevski (1997-1999)
• Trans-Atlantique by Witold Gombrowicz (2004)
• Une trop bruyante solitude by Bohumil Hrabal (2006)

Along with the adaptations, Téo Spychalski also proposed written theatre plays and in that way his work has been enriched by other colours.

These more "classical" pieces include Dans le petit manoir by Witkiewics (1985), Penthésilée by Kleist (1990), Créanciers by Strindberg (1993), Moi, Feuerbach by Tankred Dorst (1995), La nuit des Tribades by Per Olov Enquist (2002), Le Professionnel by Dušan Kovačević (2005), L'heure du lynx by Per Olov Enquist (2008) and Blackbird by David Harrover (2009). 

DAVID ALBAHARI

David Albahari (1948), has published 10 collections of short stories and 12 novels in Serbian, including The Globetrotter (novel, 2001), The Second Language (short stories, 2003), Gotz and Meyer (2003, UK), (2005, US),  Snow Man (2005) and Ludwig (2008).

His book Description of Death (Opis smrti) won the Ivo Andrić Award for the best collection of short stories in Yugoslavia in 1982, and his novel Bait (Mamac) won the NIN Award for the best novel in Yugoslavia in 1996. This novel has also been the first winner of Balkanika Award, given annually to the best book published by the publishers from the Balkans.

His books have been translated into 18 languages. Five of his books are available in English translation: a selection of short stories, entitled Words Are Something Else (1996), as well as four novels, Zinc (1997), Bait (2001), Gotz and Meyer (2003 UK, 2005 US) and Snow Man (2005).

David Albahari has translated into Serbian many books by contemporary British, American, Australian and Canadian authors, including stories and novels by S. Bellow, I.B. Singer, T. Pynchon, V.S. Naipaul, V. Nabokov, Margaret Atwood and David Gilmor.

Since 1994 he has lived in Calgary, Canada, with his wife and their two children.

Last year he has published four books: Brat (novel), Every Night in Another Town (short stories), Diaspora and other things (essays) and a book for children – Emma and the Disappearing Hedgehog (Ema i jež koji nestaje), done in cooperation with Dušan Petričić.

A book of his selected short stories, Mute Song, was published ealier this year.

DUŠAN PETRIČIĆ

Dušan Petričić was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia and graduated from the Belgrade Academy for Applied Arts.

He is the co-author or the illustrator of over 30 children books published in North America and Yugoslavia.

Among them:

• Let's Play with Camilla Gryski, (Kids Can Press, Toronto) that is also translated into Serbian,
• The Bone Button Borscht, by Aubrey Davis, (Kids Can Press, Toronto),
• The Color of Things, by Vivienne Shalom, (Rizzoli, New York),
• The Tumbledown Hill, by Tim Wynne-Jones, (Red Deer Press, Red Deer),
• The Longitude Prize, by Joan Dash, (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York),
• Rude Rumsay and Roaring Radishes, by Margaret Atwood, (Key Porter, Toronto),
• A Dangerous Engine, by Joan Dash, (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York),
• Lickety Split, by Robert Heidbreder, (Kids Can Press, Toronto),
• My New Shirt, by Cary Fagan, (Tundra Books, Toronto),
• Još nam samo ale fale, by Ljubivoje Ršumović, (BIGZ, Belgrade),
• Priča o detinjstvu - Nikola Tesla, with Dušan Radović, (BIGZ, Belgrade).

His work includes illustrations and editorial cartoons for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Scientific American, The Toronto Star and some of the major Yugoslav newspapers and magazines.

Dušan Petričić was a professor of illustration and animation at the Belgrade's Academy for Applied Arts and Sheridan College, Oakville, Canada.

For his work he was awarded at the numerous International Exhibitions and Fairs: Tokyo, Amsterdam, Belgrade, Leipzig, Moscow, Budapest, Ankara, New York, Toronto, Skopje…

Only in the last two years, Dušan has been nominated for two prestigious awards in the field of children's book illustration: Governor General's Award and Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award. In 2009 he won Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Award for his illustrations in Mattland, picture book published by Annick Press, Toronto. Together with his family, he has been working and living in Toronto since 1993.

His latest book, Ema i jež koji nestaje (Emma and the Disappearing Hedgehog) is a joint project with David Albahari.

A new edition of the Mordecai Richler's classic Jacob Two-Two in three books with additional one written by Cary Fagan, illustrated by Dušan Petričić will be presented at Belgrade's International Book Fair 2009.