Authors of the Kratež Literary Group
Dragana Mokan
Born in 1981, Zrenjanin, SFR Yugoslavia. She is the author of the poetry collection How My Time Has Gone By (2003), novel 33 dreams (Partizanska knjiga, 2021) and the short story collection Play Them Some Soft Music (Partizanska knjiga, 2019). She has won numerous literary awards and was the finalist in the poetry and short story competitions Alma (Belgrade) and Giuseppe Gioachino Belli (Rome). Her poems and short stories have been published in many magazines and online portals in the Balkans and across Europe.
Denis Čokić
Born in 1975, Sisak, SFR Yugoslavia. He has published short stories in literary magazines such as Ulaznica, Polja, Dometi, and Eckerman, as well as in story collections Fosilni zapis, Zavrti točak, Divka, Krik 2, and Mačka je, mačka je, mačka je mačka, along with contributions to the daily newspaper Politika. He is a member of the literary groups Kratež and April, as well as the tango troupe Bitangerosi. In 2016, his short story collection Izohipse was published by the publishing house Partizanska knjiga. He is also the creator of several photography and drawing cycles. Denis Čokić has participated twice in the Belgrade Half Marathon and the literary marathon Beogradski čitač held in Čuburski Park. He currently lives in Vinča.
Branka Selaković
Born in 1985, Užice, SFR Yugoslavia. She graduated in philosophy from the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade. She has published four novels: Daffodils Painted Black (Narcisi bojeni crno, 2006), The Gate (Kapija, 2009), I Am Angry (Ljuta sam, 2011), and The Clay King (Glineni kralj, Dereta 2016); short story collections: Syncope (Sinkopa, Jež izdavaštvo, 2021) and Cut on the Rib (Rez na rebru, Matica srpska, 2022); as well as a poetry collection, Einai.
For her literary work, she has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Miroslav Dereta Award for the novel The Clay King, the Matica Srpska – Society of Members in Montenegro Award for the short story collection Cut on the Rib, the Milutin Uskoković Award for short fiction, the Best Satirical Story Award at the Nušićijada Festival, the Golden Plaque for Best Story, the Undergraund Poet Fest Award, the Saint Sava Award for essay writing, and many others.
She has worked as a professor of philosophy and logic, a journalist, and an editor of programs on Radio Belgrade’s First Program, contributing to both the cultural and entertainment-humoristic editorial departments. She is also a collaborator with the regional media outlet Al Jazeera, where she publishes interviews with prominent figures from the fields of culture and art, as well as articles on socio-political phenomena. She lives and works in Belgrade.
Antej Jelenić
Born 1983, Split, SFR Yugoslavia. Writes out of despair—poetry, stories, treatises, and engages in conceptual art. After the death of his father, Božidar, he continued running Adria Art Annale, a complex-format Split-based event often banned for delving into the political sphere, following the legacy of Joseph Beuys. AAA integrates direct dialogue, critique, provocation, and works. He has published two poetry collections: Stalak za svijet (A Stand for the World, Sandorf, 2020) and Ultrazvuk (Ultrasound, HDP, 2024), as well as the short story collection Kentaur u kvartu (Centaur in the Neighborhood, Sandorf, 2023). He uses a Japanese flute as a tool to help knowledge self-organize and surprise him, as he dislikes knowing in advance what he will say.
Dimitrije Bukvić
Born in 1985, Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia. He has published stories in magazines and anthologies in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Croatia. He is the author of the prose collection Svaka dobija and two non-fiction works: Kafanološki astal and Šezdeset osma – pedeset godina posle. He has won awards for short stories from the National Library in Bor, the Miodrag Borisavljević competition in Apatin, and the Srpsko pero, festival in Jagodina. He is the recipient of the Blagodarje, recognition from the Association of Writers of Serbia, of which he is also a member. Bukvić is one of the founders of the literary groups Kratež and April.
Miljan Milanović
Born in 1982, Zaječar, SFR Yugoslavia. He likes to dance to rebetiko music, sail, drink red wine, and write short stories. He is one of the co-founders of the Kratež literary group, and the author of three books, Bending (Literary Youth of Serbia, 2010), Prolongation of the Species (Partizanska knjiga, 2019), and Wild Vegetations (Partizanska knjiga, 2022).