Romeo in Julija iz sosednje ulice: pesmi in ena tragedija s hollywoodskim koncem
(Romeo and Juliet Next Door: Songs and a Tragedy with a Hollywood Ending) Book not yet available in English
Summary:
A collection of forty poems about the highs and lows of teenage love (or rather, infatuations), along with all the other emotions, awkward moments, and yearnings that come with being a teen. The title is a direct nod to the star-crossed lovers of Verona, though our protagonists are Julija and Roman, living just across the street. Roman calls Julija out onto her balcony, they set up a movie date, and fall into each other’s arms outside the front door: a true Hollywood ending. Yet the collection is neither a tragedy nor a comedy, as we are starkly reminded by the poem The Black Flower about a young Syrian refugee who succumbed at the Slovenian (barbed-wire) border. The collection wraps up with a few clever visual poems. The witty and thoughtful illustrations play a very important role, perfectly complementing the verses and rounding out their meaning. Paired with its skilfully executed design, the collection reads as a crossover, one that captures the things we’ll one day look back on fondly, for “past loves are the most beautiful,” and even a thousand years from now, “no one will be able to say that nothing ever was (…) — for life is woven from dreams long gone.”
Edited by: Mestna knjižnica Ljubljana
Comment:
The poetry collection offers a fresh and whimsical twist on a classic tale that young readers usually encounter as part of their school curriculum, and brings its setting into the contemporary adolescent world. Love is portrayed as the very essence of life itself: not as an abstract notion, but as the driving force of human life. Thematically, the work appears to draw on the classic story only at first glance. Through his carefully crafted verses, the author offers a vivid glimpse into the emotional and experiential world of today’s teenagers — those he encounters on the street, in shops, or outside schools. A wordsmith par excellence, Vinko Möderndorfer’s poetry, paired with Jure Engelsberger’s distinctive illustrations, makes for a truly original collection. In terms of illustration and design, the book is an outstanding achievement. The masterful interplay of text and image strikes a delicate balance between visual and literary expression, allowing just the right amount of silence and white space. The book flows effortlessly, never visually overwhelming the reader’s senses. The artistic language is finely attuned to the poetry; it doesn’t encroach upon its space but rather creates its own, resulting in a sophisticated and witty whole. The black-white-red imagery vividly illustrates the moods of adolescence in the throes of first love, carrying us from genuine devotion to devastating heartbreak. The poems in this collection are full of whimsy and thoughtful use of literary devices, bringing an inventive reimagining of an old and hackneyed theme. Through this, the poet brilliantly weaves together literary worlds, reawakening a classic theme in a contemporary adolescent context. (from the justification for the Golden Pear Award) The book has received the Golden Pear Award for Best Original Slovenian Youth Fiction.