Start here
Sarajevo Marlboro
Miljenko Jergović
Short stories, 1994. Translated from Croatian
Linked short stories of ordinary Sarajevans living through the siege of the 1990s, blending grim humour with loss.
Books set in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Four books that put you in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Three are by writers from Bosnia and Herzegovina and set there, starting with Sarajevo Marlboro and Bosnian Chronicle. The other is a wider pick, by someone who knows the place well.
About the literature of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina's best-known writer is Ivo Andrić, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1961. His novel The Bridge on the Drina centres on the bridge at Višegrad, while Bosnian Chronicle is set in Travnik during the Napoleonic era, where Ottoman Bosnia meets the European consuls stationed there. Writers in the country work in Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian, and the siege of Sarajevo, from 1992 to 1996, runs through much recent writing.
Miljenko Jergović's Sarajevo Marlboro links short stories of ordinary Sarajevans during the siege, mixing grim humour with loss. Semezdin Mehmedinović's Sarajevo Blues gathers fragmentary prose and poems written during the siege. Steven Galloway, a Canadian novelist, wrote The Cellist of Sarajevo, in which three people dodge snipers for water and bread while a cellist plays in the ruined streets.
By writers from Bosnia and Herzegovina
“Find a copy” goes to Bookshop.org. If you buy, we earn a small commission and independent bookshops get a share too.
Bosnian Chronicle
Ivo Andrić
Novel, 1945. Translated from Serbo-Croatian by Joseph Hitrec
Set in Travnik during the Napoleonic era, showing the clash between Ottoman Bosnia and the European consuls stationed there.
Sarajevo Blues
Semezdin Mehmedinović
Poetry, 1992. Translated from Bosnian by Ammiel Alcalay
Fragmentary prose and poems written during the siege, capturing daily survival and despair in Sarajevo.
Wider picks
By long-time residents and outsiders who know the place well, or folk tales, poetry and history with a strong feel for Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Cellist of Sarajevo
Steven Galloway
Novel, 2008
Wider pick: By a Canadian novelist
Three people cross besieged Sarajevo, dodging snipers for water and bread, while a cellist plays in the ruined streets.
More from Europe
Albania Andorra Austria Belarus Belgium Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czechia Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Kosovo Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Moldova Monaco Montenegro Netherlands North Macedonia Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia San Marino Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Ukraine United Kingdom Vatican City