MEET OUR WINNERS – Valerija Muruzović

Q1: Tell us a little about yourself. What are you up to at the moment?

 1. I`m pretty much just trying to manage schoolwork. It has been a main worry in my life for quite some time.

Q2: Tell us a little about who your creative inspiration or mentor is and why?  This might be a favourite author or place to work.

 2. I don’t think I can define that. I do have my batch of favorite authors, such as Kafka, Murakami, Dostoevsky, etc., but I use their works only for technical aspects of writing (vocabulary, sentence building…). My inspiration comes from various places, and I truly believe it cannot be categorized.

Q3: Why do you write? Would you rather choose prose or poetry? Why?

 3. I write since I`ve learned how to do it. I can’t explain why I do it; it is more of an instinct. Speaking of poetry and prose, I think it would be magnificent If I could, one day, write the way Nabokov does; prose that reads like poetry.

Q4: What are you writing next? Might this story be the first of a collection?

 4.  I am not writing anything at the moment. And I am not planning anything either – I`m an intuitive writer, writing what I want whenever I want.

Q5: What are your aspirations as a writer?

 5. I don’t have any aspirations to become a writer, nor do I want to publish my work.

Q6: Does the place you live or are from inspire you in your work or life, and if so, how?

 6. To some extent. Being on Belgrade public transport at 3 pm on Saturday has its charm. It is full of lonely people, drunk people, and ordinary humans – there is always a character you can abuse.

Q7: What would you like the reader to take away from your story?

 7. Everything – hedonistically bask in it and don’t analyze it.

Q8: Did you learn anything about yourself by writing your story?

  8. No, not really.

Q9: What are your 3 top tips for writing a short story?   9. Really, I have no tips. Unique systems create unique items; go with your own flow.