The literature of Chilean Croats: Presentation of the latest book by Željka Lovrenčić
On 14 May 2014 at the Head Office of the Croatian Heritage Foundation, Željka Lovrenčić, writer, translator and Head of the Foreign Croatica Collection at the National and University Library in Zagreb, presented her monograph dedicated to the literature of Croats from Chile (Od pustinje do ledenjaka: književnost čileanskih Hrvata), published by the Istrian Branch of the Croatian Writers’ Association.
Everyone present was welcomed by Director of the Croatian Heritage Foundation Marin Knezović and Chilean Ambassador to Croatia His Excellency Germán Orlando Ibarra Morán.
Apart from Lovrenčić, the book was presented by Sanja Vulić, Ph.D. Professor at the Centre for Croatian Studies, University of Zagreb, and Boris Domagoj Biletić, the book’s editor.
The presentation was moderated by Vesna Kukavica, Head of the Croatian Heritage Foundation Publishing Department, and theatre and TV actor Dubravko Sidor read the selected sections of the monograph.
Over the past couple of years Željka Lovrenčić distinguished herself as the leading authority on the literary works of the Chilean writers of Croatian descent. She published her latest findings in 2013 in this monograph, whose title evokes the images of places where Croats settled in Chile (deserts and glaciers). The majority of them inhabit the city of Antofagasta, which is located in the torrid desert region of northern Chile, then in Punta Arenas, in the southernmost cold region of Chile, and finally Santiago de Chile, Chile’s capital. The author draws our attention to the literary work of the Chilean authors of Croatian descent who, in spite of their difficult living conditions, achieved success in Chilean culture, especially literature.
