In 1992 I left my country as
violence, crime, injustice and madness of all sorts took place as a consequence
of the fall of Yugoslavia, and in the past 20 years Croatia has been a country
where social unrest, social injustice and crime have been monumental. Many
intellectuals and freethinkers found shelter in foreign lands.
In Sydney, I have written a novel Fiume
– The Lost River which talks about separations, wars, love and hate, and
life in exile. It was first published in my hometown of Rijeka, in 1999. As the
country was led by shady characters, the publisher I encountered was the one
who reflected the times in which he lived, hence I had never seen any royalties
regardless of the fact that the book was on the weekly bestseller list for weeks
and months. Several other books of mine have had the same destiny with the same
publisher, as writers in exile are often written off, forgotten or simply not
considered when royalty cheques have to be written.
Well, the story went: a year later I had published another novel Requiem for Barbara, then a year after Little Lies – Big Lies and Visconti’s Stories all with the same publisher.
Yes, I was young and quite inexperienced in the industry, plus
eager to get my work published as I considered it to be a work of significance
for people who lived in that region and for the migrants wherever they would
find themselves in any part of the world.
The books got great reviews; they were selling well and were
very popular literature among my contemporaries.
But the problem has always been quite common and simple – no one
guarantees, not just the number of book sales, but most importantly, no one
guarantees good, steady, honest qualities of a publisher’s character.
I hear, often, from fellow writers that they had bad experiences
with not so well known publishers, they seldom get their royalty cheques, and
often publishers don’t even bother to reply to e-mails, hence a number of new
emerging writers opt to self-publish. Self-publishing has its pitfalls surely and
it has never been regarded as a serious piece of work as compared to the book
that had been published by a respectable publisher.
My several books written in Croatian language and published in
Croatia are still selling all over the country but the publisher, an
extravagant and dishonest man, had decided not to share my well deserved
royalties. When I tried in the most civilized manner to ask about book sales
and royalties, he dismissed me. Move over, he even said that my books were not
selling at all. On a weekly basis, still after all those years I have people
who e-mail me telling of their experience with one of my books (yes, written
and published in Croatian).
So, one may ask – What one can do in such circumstances? How
easy/difficult it would be to win the case where more than one person is
corrupted?
Is the reward plainly the publication itself or grateful
readership?
Well, I’d say in every evil deed there surely is something good
and positive as well. What happened in my situation was that I resolved to
learn English to the extent that I can write and express myself as if I would
in my native language.
In the end, somehow I would have to say ‘Thank you Franjo’ as he has made my books and my name
known to the wide audience (though unwillingly and unintentionally). From a
small country, almost a provincial writer, I became known in many
English-speaking countries. If it wasn’t for his lies and dishonesty, probably
I would still be writing in my native language, publishing smaller editions and
reaching a much smaller audience.
Every evil has a crack: that in its blackness a ray of light can
enter.
My first book written in English was ‘The Mosaic of the Broken
Soul’, a memoir of a writer.
A memoir is an account of the personal experiences of an author.
Memoir is not biography nor is it autobiography or a recount of the writer’s
entire life.
A memoir portrays the author’s life experiences where the author
shows personal knowledge through those experiences. A memoir isn’t a
recount of the author’s entire life but it has to have a particular theme,
hence the events are selected and exposed, discussed in depth as they are
relative to the purpose of that particular story. An author is an observer and
interpreter of the chosen events, questioning and answering what has happened;
hence he/she comes to a different understanding of such events. There is a
lesson in such events, the lesson that has profoundly affected or changed
his/her life or the way he/she sees the world. While the author’s world has
been changed, the reader is affected in a similar fashion and his/her mind is
altered too.
As Anne Lamott pointed out:
“You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If
people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.”
My US publisher Speaking Volumes will publish Fiume – The Lost River in English, in April 2014.
Guest Blogger Bio
Branka
Cubrilo is a novelist. She is the author of seven written novels. Six of them were
published by three different publishers (as Branka writes in two languages).
Apart from writing novels Branka writes short stories, poems and articles and
she works as a radio producer and a linguist, fluent in four languages.
Branka's latest novel Fiume - the Lost River has just been published whilst
currently Branka is editing her just written novel Thirty Years of Pia.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/branka.cubrilo
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrankaCubrilo
What people are saying about Branka's books:
For The Mosaic of the Broken Soul:
"I was stunned when I read
Branka Cubrilo's The Mosaic of the Broken Soul. I had read her
short stories and was quite impressed with her literary talents. However, I
thought that Mosaic was probably a woman's book, which would not interest me in
the least. I was wrong. The novel is an ode to humanity and those problems both
large and small that do indeed become the mosaic of our lives. I felt as though
I was reading about someone I truly cared about, and maybe it was because I
really did care about a woman facing the toughest tests that can ever confront
anyone: the lump in her breast, the black pearl that may take her life, the
lost loves she has experienced, the hope that springs eternal, the
determination to fight to the end no matter what the end may be. No one
captures the passion, the spirit, and the resilience of the human soul like
Branka Cubrilo. Some novelists write prose. Branka writes literature. Her story
sings. It makes you cry. It makes you worry. You understand what fear is all
about when it grips your heart during the darkest of hours. It gives you hope
even when hope seems like an impossible place to find. With The Mosaic of
the Broken Soul, Branka Cubrilo has established herself as one of the
most important writers of her generation, a generation that is indeed fortunate
to have her."
- Caleb
Pirtle, Author, Film-maker
For Fiume - the Lost River:
"Branka
is a writer of exceptional talent who traverses cultural, historical and
linguistic barriers in her writing with a passionate fluidity.
I have read Branka’s translated
work ‘Fiume - The Lost River’ which tells the story of migration and
place; of Australia and Europe through the mysterious journey of a handful of
characters. Branka’s work has the great virtue of capturing the essence of
place and nation with a seamlessness found only in the works of great writers
who themselves have known displacement and separation. Her writing is
beautifully evocative and captures the sense of place and atmosphere in a way
which is transporting for the reader.
Branka
is both an exceptional writer and exceptional person. She has an acutely
intelligent and engaging mind.
She
has always demonstrated an integrity in her life and writing which drives her
toward a psychological truth. She is an observer and translator of human
complexities and this is nowhere more evident than in her writing. Despite many
of the psychologically disturbing themes in her writing, Branka has a wonderful
sense of playfulness and spirit for life."
- Prof
Penny Green
Book:
Coming Soon:
Great Author making yet another Great Book!
ReplyDeleteThank you for stopping by, Oscar!
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