Dušan Šarotar

Dušan Šarotar, born in Murska Sobota in 1968, is a writer, poet and screenwriter. He studied sociology of culture and philosophy at the University of Ljubljana. He has published five books of prose (Breath diving, 1999, Dead angle, 2002, Bed and breakfast, 2003, Billiards at the hotel Dobray, 2007, Nostalgia, 2010) and three books of poetry (Feel for the wind, 2004, Landscape in minor, 2006, House of my son, 2009), he also write plays for puppet theatre. Author of fifteen screenplays for documentary and feature films. The author’s poetry and prose have been included into several anthologies and translated into Hungarian, Russian, Spanish, Polish, Italian, Czech and English. In 2008, the novel Billiards at the Hotel Dobray was nominated for the Kresnik award for best novel of the year. A movie based on the novel will be filmed next year.

Sample translations

English - "Island of the dead" (2002) English - "The blind spot" (1999) Hungarian - "Biliárd a Dobray szállóban" (2011) / Translated by: Gállos Orsolya English - "Billiards at the Hotel Dobray" (2011) / Translated by Gregor Timothy Čeh and Nada Grošelj

From the media

This segment of Šarotar's prose can hardly find any parallel in literature. What does come to my mind, however, is a cinematic one: the Hungarian master of slowness Bella Tar with the scripts of Laszlo Krasznahorkai. Petra Vidali, Večer Billiards at the hotel Dobray is a book written with masterly skill. Šarotar takes his time and his narration glides slowly among the stories and people's destinies and across the landscape; a book bereft of all radicality. The eye's gaze from way up in the air is cool, distanced, almost indifferent to people's destinies; as if they were looked upon from a great distance, temporal as well spatial, and the destinies of individuals were almost entirely insignificant specks in a more broadly outlined picture. Matej Bogataj, Literatura The first specific poetic trait of the author is his stressed synergy between the lyrical and prose rhythm. With its dense apocalyptic imagery, the poetic quality of the language assumes the role of the fable. Petra Jager, Sodobnost The work which genuinely reopens the topic of the literary treatment of our WWII existence. Bernard Nežmah, Mladina Well versed as a narrator, Šarotar skilfully knits all the aspects of narration together, which results in a fresh, pleasant and carefully reflected approach bringing together two great literary qualities: lack of pretence and authenticity. Mojca Pišek, AirBeletrina
Reviews of the novel Billiards at the hotel Dobray