Mirko Kovač (writer)
Mirko Kovač (26 December 1938 – 19 August 2013) was a Yugoslav writer. In his rich career he wrote novels, short stories, essays, film scripts, TV and radio plays. Among his best known works are the novels "Gubilište", "Životopis Malvine Trifković", "Vrata od utrobe", "Grad u zrcalu", the short story collection "Ruže za Nives Koen", the book of essays "Europska trulež" and the scripts for some of the most successful films of Yugoslav cinema like "Handcuffs", "Playing Soldiers" and "Occupation in 26 Pictures" among others. He was one quarter of the infamous Belgrade quartet, the other three being  Danilo Kiš, Borislav Pekić and Filip David. Biography. Kovač was born to a Croat father and a Serb mother in the village of Petrovići in Banjani region near Nikšić, Montenegro. He went to elementary school in Trebinje but after leaving his family at the age of 16 he went to Vojvodina where he finished high school in Novi Sad. During that time he discovered the works of poet Tin Ujević and became interested in literature. He went on to study the works of other notable Yugoslav authors like Ranko Marinković, Vladan Desnica, Antun Branko Šimić and Vjekoslav Kaleb. After finishing  school he published his first essay called "Tri pesnika" ("Three Poets") about the works of Tin Ujević, Branko Miljković and Oskar Davičo. His first book "Gubilište" was published in 1962 and caused a big bang on the Yugoslav literature scene. The communist authorities declared the book inappropriate because of its dark portrayal of life and started a campaign against Kovač which resulted in a year long polemic. Many authors including Predrag Matvejević and Danilo Kiš wrote in Kovač's defence. He received: Serbian "NIN Prize" 1978 and "Andrić Award" 1979, Swedish PEN "Tucholsky Award" (1993), German Herder Prize (1995), Montenegrin  Njegoš Award (2009) and "13th July award" (2004), Slovenian "Vilenica Award" (2003), Croatian "Vladimir Nazor Award" (2008) etc. He lived in Belgrade, but moved to Rovinj, Croatia, his wife's hometown, after Slobodan Milošević came to power. An annual award in his name is given to authors from the Balkans in four categories. Bibliography. Screenplays: External links.