Books

The world today is shattered by sirens and warning alarms and notifications of live-streamed genocide, torn apart by borders strung with razor wire, while everyday bombs from other parts of the world erode the seductive illusion of our false peace and comfort. And so we are imprisoned as well, seemingly free; while we travel, while we wait in hospitals, while we try to love or understand those who came before us. Heart on Batteries (Srce na baterije) opens an atlas of such a reality: the poems are passports and records - tender and sincere - meandering between the large and small moments of personal life and the relentless truth of history and the present.

The poetry in this book is not a closed system, but is in constant dialogue with literature, film, music, documentary materials, and digital fragments. Intertextuality is not used as an ornament, but as a tool for interpreting the present. At the centre of the collection lies the question: how does one live and write when the world is in ruins?

The poems of Snježana Vračar Mihelač awaken us and demand that we feel. They remind us that tenderness is the only courage, and silence is complicity. In them, the voices of our antifascist ancestors resonate; in them, the voice from Gaza meets the voice of a worker, a traveller, a daughter, an oncology nurse. Family legends and “on this day” memories are rearranged into a new map of resistance: a language germinating through the cracks of the world, a language that can resist cruelty and fascism.

A heart close to us now runs on batteries, and this title motif becomes a metaphor, a metronome of endurance: as long as there is resistance and hope, there are words too, a gaze into the eyes of a world in tragedy, and a stubborn belief that good can still be done. Precise and contemporary, this poetry smoulders within us long after we have read it and continues to shine tirelessly in our darkness.

Monika Herceg

https://hrvatskodrustvopisaca.hr/hr/novosti/novo-u-biblioteci-poezije-srce-na-baterije-snjezane-vracar-mihelac

https://hrvatskodrustvopisaca.hr/proizvod/knjige/srce-na-baterije/

Kad zatvorim oči vidim modro (When I Close My Eyes, I See Blue) is the collection that won the 8th Presing Competition for the Best Poetry Collection in 2022.

With great subtlety and unpretentiousness, yet evocatively, the author draws her readers into a sparkling poetic world of delicate nostalgia and the joy of reminiscing. This world is imbued with a gentle irony born from acceptance of memories that come alive in the present—not as (auto)biographical elements, but purely as poetic truths. All there is has been turned into a poem. The poet invites us to explore her personal and family album, elevating from her experience universal moments in which readers may find themselves. She does not impose predetermined lessons or moral conclusions, nor does she lament the past or the inevitable passing. Instead, she carefully retrieves precious fragments from the sea of memories, crafting them into a vibrant mosaic filled with the wonders of fruits, plants, birds, and insects.
In this world, the lyrical subject often steps beyond the personal perspective to engage in poetic narratives about others, creating a rich interplay of voices and perspectives.

Nadežda Purić Jovanović

https://www.presing.org/snjezana-vracar-mihelac-kad-zatvorim-oci-vidim-modro/

An artist’s book created by painter Ivana Hostnik, combining her original watercolors with selected verses by poet Snježana Vračar Mihelač.

The book explores the relationship between trees, plants and the environment. Hostnik’s watercolors are part of a body of work inspired by the natural ability of trees to cleanse the soil by trapping heavy metals before they can pollute nearby rivers. Selected verses are interwoven with the paintings, creating an intimate dialogue between poetry and visual art.

The edition consists of four unique, hand-finished copies, each featuring original drawings and layered transparent elements.

Author: Ivana Hostnik
Poetry: Snježana Vračar Mihelač
Medium: Watercolor, poetry, artist’s book
First Edition: 4 unique copies
Self-published (Ivana Hostnik)

Pjesnikinja predstavlja pjesnikinju (A Poet Presents a Poet) is a literary discussion series held annually since 2025, in April - the birth month of Vesna Parun - as part of the Vesnina Dubrava programme at the Dubrava Cultural Centre. In the series, Andrijana Kos Lajtman introduces a contemporary poet of her own choosing. The first booklet in the newly launched Vesnina Dubrava edition features poems by Snježana Vračar Mihelač.

An anthology of poetry by a group of authors, resulting from the 2025 Contest for the Best Unpublished Poem, organized by the Solin City Library.

"Climate Action through Poetry and Photography" is a project and catalog connecting art and science to raise awareness about climate change. Through an open contest, 42 authors from the region were selected, and the publication features poems and photographs exploring human experiences, the relationship with nature, and everyday impacts of climate change.

The poems featured in this collection were submitted as part of the Writing with Tanane
competition, organized by Kontrast Publishing and Jaffa Napolitanke.

Signals in the Night: An Anthology of Poems by Participants of the PPM Enclave Writing
Workshop 2023.
Edited by Danilo Đoković, Milana Grbić, Tamara Ereš

Anthology of the 54th Literary Competition SUSRET RIJEČI BEDEKOVČINA 2023

ZaNa Poetry Anthology III is part of the third edition of the ZaNa Literature Festival, organized by the Dhemetra Foundation and the Private Cultural Center Akvarijus, with support from the
United Nations Mission in Kosovo.

In 2023, the ZaNa festival launched an international poetry competition centered on the
theme Self-Reflection as a Form of Art Therapy. The resulting collection, ZaNa III, features
the work of 14 authors from various countries. Translated into Albanian, Serbian, and
English, this book celebrates diverse voices and promotes cross-cultural dialogue.

An anthology of resistance poetry, prose, graffiti, and street art, edited by Dejan Koban and
designed by Ištvan Išt Huzjan, published by Non-grupa, is a tribute to all those who, in
politically challenging times, have refused – and will continue to refuse – to remain silent.

Collection of literary works created in the workshops Cultural production of vulnerable groups - literary production in the native language within the framework of the project #MINORITIESONLINE.