With support from Traduki, the Bosnian academic and author Enes Karić presented his book The Jewish Cemetery at this year’s Zürich liest literature festival. The reading took place at the end of October at the Mille et deux feuilles/zum Mittelmeer und mehr bookstore. Translated into German by Silvia Sladić in 2016, the story recounts in poetic and warm fashion the life of the young Sadik.
The novel takes place in Sarajevo during the Bosnian war and the siege of the city and narrates events from the not-so-distant past. Because „everyone grows quiet, when the stronger person lunges out to hit, and when he leaves, the others feel strong, again and so the never-ending tale keeps on repeating itself”. The conversation against this sort of silencing was moderated by the NZZ correspondent Cyrill Stieger, who discussed with Karić his views on literature, religion and different cultures. “There is nothing worse that can happen to you than war. Therefore, it is essential to work continuously on peace projects, without fail”, emphasised Karić.