Ćamil Sijarić (1913–1989), a Montenegrin-born writer who spent most of his life in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, is best known for his novels and short stories. Sijarić’s poetry, however, remains an overlooked gem of his literary legacy. Although his poetic output is modest (Lirika, 1988, and the posthumously published Koliba na nebu, 1990), his poems resonate with remarkable depth and sensitivity. With a keen awareness of the complexities of life in the Balkans, Sijarić captures the region’s beauty and pain in verses that feel hauntingly prescient. While he passed away before the wars that followed the breakup of Yugoslavia, some of his poems eerily echo the anguish and turbulence of living in this fraught space.

See also “Ćamil Sijarić, The Man of Exile” by Miljenko Jergović, Spirit of Bosnia, Volume 17 No. 4 (2022):October

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