Jurica Pavičić
Jurica Pavičić (Split, 1965) worked as a film critic and journalist for different Croatian newspapers. His first novel, Plaster Sheep (1997), a social thriller about the harbour city of Split during the Yugoslav war, is considered a ground-breaking novel in contemporary Croatian literature, marking the beginning of the so-called reality narrative. Swiss magazine Fact gave it third position on Top 10 list of the best crime/suspense novels of the year. Witnesses, a film based on this novel (directed by Vinko Brešan) was screened in competition of Berlin Film Festival, and won several international awards. Pavičić first theater play, Poisoner, won the national Marin Držić Award for best theater text.
In 2006, he published his fifth – and according to critics - best novel: Little Red Riding Hood (2006). From late 2000s on, Pavičić shifts toward writing short fiction. For his contributions to journalism, he was awarded with Marija Jurić Zagorka Award, Veselko Tenžera Award, Miljenko Smoje Award, and Croatian Journalists’ Association Award for journalist of the year.
His novel "Red Water" was first published in Croatian in 2017, and it received amazing reviews, winning Ksaver Šandor Đalski and Fric award, and being shortlisted for the coveted tportal and Meša Selimović prizes for best novel in 2017. It was also translated into German as “Blut und Wasser” (2020).
“Red Water” was translated into French by Olivier Lannuzel and published by Agullo, reaching now more than 15.000 printed copies. So far it received five prestigious awards: Grand Prix de Littérature Policière for the best translated crime novel in 2021, Le Point du Polar européen for best European crime novel by a European author, the Transfuge prize for best crime novel in translation awarded by the French monthly culture magazine, Prix Mystère de la critique for the best translated crime novel in 2022 (one of the oldest awards for crime fiction in France) and Prix Libr'à Nous, the French booksellers’ award.
Jurica Pavičić: The Nativity Scene