German Writer of Croatian Roots: Croatia Is My Inspiration

"I have written 35 works. I started with poetry, but then I grew tired of it, so I transitioned into prose. I have written four novels, and I also wrote about my birthplace Pakrac, about Ivankovo, and about Croatia as a whole. I have written other novels as well, such as the novel 'Between Love and Death,' and I have authored many other works in the social and humanistic fields, depending on the object to which my soul recommended itself."

Zdravko Luburić

Published 35 Literary Works to Date and Received Numerous Awards

Poet and translator Zdravko Luburić was born in 1942 in Pakrac.

He was educated in Ivankovo, Zagreb, Varaždin, Cologne, and Hagen. Since 1966, he has lived in Remscheid, Germany, where he works as a municipal official. He later taught German and Croatian at the Adult Education Center (Volkshochschule) in Hückeswagen. From 1982 to 1992, he was elected to the Foreigners' Council of the city of Remscheid, and was subsequently elected to the Foreigners' Council of North Rhine-Westphalia for two terms. Since 1992, he has also been the director of the "Remscheid International Literary Evenings" (Remscheider Internationaler Literatur-Abend), which are held every year in October in the city of Remscheid, where the anthology Wie das Lied des Windes ("Like the Song of the Wind") is published, featuring authors who participated in the literary evening. He participated in the "Struga Poetry Evenings" festival in Macedonia in 1991, 2001, and 2002, and in the "Zagreb Literary Talks" in 2005.

To date, he has published 35 literary works and received a large number of international awards, including nominations for the highest honors such as the Nobel Prize in Literature. Zdravko Luburić is a member of the Association of German Writers, the "Jane Tony" Belgian Writers' Association, the Croatian Writers' Association, the Society of Croatian Writers of Herceg-Bosna, and Almae Matris Alumni Croaticae Deutschland e.V. In 1996, he was awarded a Certificate (Urkunde) by the publishing house "Reinhard Steinmaßl" from Langenhorn. In 2002, 2003, and 2005, he was awarded a grant by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since 2003, he has been listed in the Internet Lexicon of German Writers. Poet and translator Zdravko Luburić currently lives in Remscheid-Lennep, Germany.

Mr. Luburić, what are the reasons for your visit to Croatia? We notice that you rarely come.

“On this occasion, I came first to Rešetari for the traditional poetry meetings, where I presented my work, and then I also went to Ivankovo, where I lived as a child. They invited me to present my new book "Hava Nagila Rasell" through a conversation. I am pleased because I was able to present the structure of my new novel at those gatherings.”

The name of Zdravko Luburić is not unknown to the Croatian public. However, it is much better known internationally than here at home. You are the recipient of a series of international awards. What do these awards mean to you personally?

“The answer goes both ways. If I receive these awards—and I have received 11 of them—I feel a lofty pride. Initially, I feel like a "little God," but on the other hand, these awards are slowly starting to bother me, and I have already forgotten many of them. My work is what matters to me, not the award. I work every day from 8 AM to 4 PM; if I don't value that, who will...”

The themes of your novels are human destinies, but you have also written works with Croatian themes.

“I wrote about that more than 20 years ago. Not much is known about it in Croatia. For example, people don't know about the work "Woe to the Vanquished" (Teško pobijeđenima), and much less was known about it back then than today—those are themes surrounding Bleiburg. Everything that was happening back then is expressed in that work. Then Mr. Mihovolj wrote a composition that gained a lot of popularity with the audience in Hamburg.”

How many works have you published so far? We hear that your works will physically end up in Croatia, but...

“I would still say that my opus will end up in Europe, and Croatia is a member of the European Union. I have written 35 works. I started with poetry, but then I grew tired of it, so I transitioned into prose. I have written four novels, and I also wrote about my birthplace Pakrac, about Ivankovo, and about Croatia as a whole. I have written other novels as well, such as the novel "Between Love and Death," and I have authored many other works in the social and humanistic fields, depending on the object to which my soul recommended itself.”

You have finally come to a free and independent Croatia.

“Today we are in a free Croatia, in our home, in our homeland, and in our heavenly form. Europe says that Croatia is a sort of European park. Croatia is beautiful and, as I can see, very desirable. This Slavonian plain, Istria, not to mention the Adriatic.”

What does Zdravko Luburić do when he is doing nothing?

“There is no such thing for me. That doesn't exist. I work, I always work. However, sometimes it depends on the mood, the environment, the weather, but most of all on inspiration.”

At one point in your life, you also worked as a representative for foreigners in German communities?

“That is an extensive line of work that requires capability, a heart, and patience. I was a representative for all foreigners; I represented them in many matters, and we truly found solutions. For a time, I held the position of representing foreigners in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. All in all, that lasted for ten years.”

An initiative has also been launched to establish a museum in your honor in Ivankovo during your lifetime.

“I can say that I have earned that kind of reward. Because I have worked, and even today, at the age of 84, I am still working. I would like to deposit my work there and allow others to gain insight into my labor and creations, and doing it this way is best. My thanks to my Ivankovo.”