“Catch the Rabbit” has won the International Latisana per il Nordest prize in Italy. The Italian edition was published by Nutrimenti edizioni and translated by Elisa Copetti. The prize was awarded on September 11 ex aequo to Lana Bastašić for “Catch the Rabbit” and Paolo Malaguti for “Se l'acqua ride”. These two novels beat 65 titles and made it to the top.
In an official statement, the jury elaborated on their decision to choose “Catch the Rabbit”: There is a generation of young authors mainly from the Balkan area, who work on innovative forms of storytelling, able to represent contradictions and aporias of the new Europe. Lana Bastašić belongs to this group of storytellers children of war. The “on the road” novel, narrating the friendship between Sara and Lejla, becomes a clear metaphor of an estrangement condition that, starting from a painful memory, is capable to represent large part of contemporary society.
The author decided to share her prize with her Italian translator, Elisa Copetti, stating that “we don't appreciate literary translators as we should”.
The video of the entire ceremony is available on YouTube here.
Lana Bastašić 