On Tuesday May 8th 2012 at 7pm in Nebojša Tower within the series “Tales of Belgrade” Vida Ognjenović presented her book “Birdwatcher”. Gojko Bozović, chief editor of the publishing house “Arhipelag”, spoke alongside the author at the book presentation.

A novel by Vida Ognjenović is an exciting story of modern times, tracking the heroes of exceptional destinies, accompanied by the depth of narrative humour and the power of storytelling. At the heart of this remarkable novel is the hero of unsettled identity, along whose destiny reader follows the story of the Russian Corps and White émigrés- Russian immigrants in Serbia. The book provides a credible picture of Belgrade, during and after the Second World War, it talks about Okujava and Visotsky and about love and the all-seeing eye of the police. This novel encompasses the entire second half of the twentieth century. Vida Ognjenović is a Serbian writer and director. She graduated from the University of Belgrade (Dept. of Literature and Languages) in 1963 and from the Academy of Theatre, Film and Television in 1965. She won many major literary awards for her literary and theatrical work. Among others received: Prosveta Award for Book of the Year (1994), Andrić Award for a story (1995), Branko Ćopić Award for Fiction (1996), Laza Kostić Award for the novel (1996), Paja Marković Adamov Award for Fiction (1997), Ramonda Serbica Award for Fiction (1998), Stefan Mitrov Ljubiša Award for Literature (1999), The Statuette of Joakim Vujić Award (2001).

For the novel “Birdwatcher”, published in two editions, Vida Ognjenović won “Kočić`s Book Award” and “The Golden Hit Liber Award”. The Birdwatcher is one of the eight most widely read books in public libraries in Serbia in 2011.

Prose and plays have been translated into English, Hungarian, Macedonian and German. She lives and works in Belgrade.

With the project “Tales of Belgrade” PE “Belgrade Fortress” strives to promote the literary works of local authors through interviews with writers and experts in various fields of culture with the aim of establishing new and enriched content in the revitalized space of Nebojša Tower as well as promoting Belgrade together rivers it lies upon.