day 279 – without fear of change, marija knezevic
without fear of change, marija knezevic pp11 (2009)
best european fiction 2012
london: dalkey archive 2011
(edited by aleksander hemon)
(translated from serbian by will firth)
‘This is my story, remember – me writing about myself and how I see things.’
‘I don’t care if anyone likes it or not. I feel I’ve been obliging to others all my life. Now I want to do something for myself. Or at least be obliging to myself.’
‘I don’t know where to go from here.’
‘And perhaps I don’t know exactly how I feel. I’m hardly one of those professional writers who can churn out a column a day.’
‘but I don’t want to talk about things I’m not sure about.’
‘When I settle down, and I guess that will happen one day, I’ll write a whole book about it like normal people do.’
‘I’m afraid of being happy with such simple things.’
‘Now I want to do something for myself. Or at least be obliging to myself’