Author Archives
Erna Grcic is a writer, poet, teacher, and translator. She graduated summa cum laude and received two Golden Badges from the University of Sarajevo upon getting her MA in English Language and Literature. She synthesises her love of literature and teaching in her research in the field of literary theory and applied linguistics.
She is currently working on a poetry collection titled Beneath the Surface and writing a novel inspired by ancient Slavic mythology under the working title Zmeyograd.
A Word from the Author:
‘Literature is my work and my favourite pastime. My first literary experience had started almost thirty years ago, during a particularly bloody war, when in the basement of our heavily bombarded house, my mother read to me in the flickering light of a candle in order to pull me away from the roars and blasts that shook us every now and then and make me fall asleep. Since then, literature has become a safe haven, a source of peace and security in the midst of the everyday uproar.’ – Erna G.
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Zmey, the Slavic Dragon
The day was still. The lake, as sleek as a crisp sheet of glass, mirrored the clear skies and the pointy tips of the surrounding pine trees. The sun was moving westwards and the crickets’ subtle melody bounced off of… Read More ›
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Morana, the Winter Witch
The snow was thawing. Icy drops fell from the trees, like heavy, grief-laden tears, and formed muddy rivulets that snaked downhill and into the overflowing village brook. Morana stood beside the brook, leaning against a tree stump that jutted like… Read More ›
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Veles the Trickster
Veles leaned against the gates of Iriy. His gaze rested on the retreating forms of Lada and Gerovit. A bird landed on one of his horns and started chirping a merry melody, but he grunted and waved it away. The… Read More ›
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Lada, Love and Harmony
It had been a long winter and Lada was tired of staying in Iriy, the heavenly world of the dead, where she had to reside until the summer came. Veles, the ruler of forests and her companion in Iriy, had… Read More ›
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Beneath the Surface
I’ve devoted last couple of weeks to finalising my poetry collection titled Beneath the Surface. Some of these poems are new, some I have carried around in various notebooks and crumpled bits of paper for years, now it’s time for… Read More ›
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The History of Teaching Reading
Literacy has had a pivotal role in the development and success of most civilizations, so teaching reading has been one of educators’ main preoccupations for centuries. Early on, everything revolved around the alphabet and letter recognition. Students were required to… Read More ›
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Slavic Myth of Creation: Rod
It all began with a golden egg nestled in the darkness. Inside the egg was Rod, the soon-to-be creator of the world. He grew lonely so he created himself a companion, Lada, the goddess of love. The eggshell cracked and… Read More ›
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What’s New
2018 was a strange year, steeped in sticky reminiscences. However, it led to a number of changes, including the current revamping of my website due to a number of projects that I’ve decided to carry out in 2019. What to… Read More ›
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What is a Human Woman? – Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
As Elizabethan literary theorist Sir Philip Sidney claims in his 16th century work titled The Defence of Poesie, the purpose of poetry, later extended to encompass all literary genres, is to simultaneously teach and delight the reader. Gail Honeyman’s debut… Read More ›
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The Forgetful Narrator: Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey
The idea of a completely reliable narrator is quite a questionable subject, since we are all unreliable when it comes to telling our own stories, hence, as the term ‘omniscient’ suggests, the reliable narrator must be some kind of divine,… Read More ›
