Feri Lainšček

Writer, poet, and playwright Feri Lainšček was born in Dolenci na Goričkem in 1959. He studied journalism and now lives and works in Murska Sobota. He is a versatile author and explores different literary genres: prose, poetry, theatre plays, as well as puppet plays and radio plays. His first poetry publication entitled Kot slutnja radovedno (Like a premonition, curious, 1981) was co-authored by the poets Milan Vincetič and Valerija Pergar; this was followed by several collections of his own poems. Nevertheless, literary audiences are more acquainted with his novels and their stories, which stem from the Prekmurje environments. In addition to editing several collection of short stories (some as contributor), he has published numerous novels. Among the most acclaimed are Peronarji (Platform People; 1982), Raza (Crack; 1986 and 2004), Namesto koga roža cveti (Instead of Whom does the Flower Bloom, 1991), Ki jo je megla prinesla (The Woman Carried in by the Fog, 1993), Astralni niz (Astral Series, 1993), Petelinji zajtrk (The Rooster’s Breakfast, 1999), Ločil bom peno od valov (I Will Divide the Foam from the Waves; 2003), Poema o ljubezni (A Love Poem, 2003), Muriša (2006) and Orkester za poljube (An Orchestra for Kisses, 2013). With Dušan Šarotar as co-athor, Lainšček  published Občutek za veter (A Sense for Wind; 2005) with the Franc-Franc Publishing. He also writes plays and books for children and young adults. His most renowned plays are Samorastneži (Self-Growing People, 1986), Impresarij (Impressario, 1990) and Penzion Evropa (The Europa Pension, 1995), which was also produced as a radio play.

His works have been translated into Hungarian, English, German, Croatian, Czech, Spanish, and Catalan. He also collaborates with numerous Slovenian authors and groups. In 1995, Lainšček received the Prešeren Fund Prize for Ki jo je megla prinesla and in 2006 the Kresnik Award for Best Slovenian Novel for Namesto koga roža cveti and Muriša. He also received the Večernica Award for the Best Slovenian youth literary work for Mislice (Little Thoughts), a collection of fairy tales, the Kajuh Award for Raza, the Vladimir Slejko Fund Award for Astralni niz and the first award of Centre for Drama Art in Zagreb for his film script Črni klovn (The Black Clown).