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FICTION

FICTION

Serbian Literature / Serbian Fiction

FLASH FICTION

EYES

by Valentina Novković

(Translated from Serbian)

In the pastry shop there is a murmur — the voices of children and adults, laughter.  Visitors order more than they can eat. When they see that they cannot eat everything, the plates are left with twisted Cham pitas, torn Baklavas, split Indian Chapattis, lifeless as if in some candy cemetery. At the very bottom, at the last table, sits a boy whose age is difficult to determine. In his plate, there is one small Tulumba next to the glasses of plain water. A little cloudy, the water from the glass casts a strange strip of light on the small fork with which the boy slowly and precisely separates the cake piece by piece. Looking in front of him, he puts each morsel into his mouth devotedly. Little by little, the whole, small Tulumba disappears from the plate.

The topping sugar of the Tulumba is the next thing the boy tries to eat with his fork. However, it doesn’t work out for him. With nothing to hold it, the topping slides off the fork’s prongs back onto the plate. After a dozen persistent, calm attempts, the boy manages to get to the bottom of the problem and he neatly puts the utensils away. Then, as if there is the most wonderful nectar in the glass, he proceeds to drink it — sip by sip. The pleasure, he feels as the drops of water slide down his throat, is reflected in the thin lines around his eyes that seem to pucker up especially at those moments. After the last precious drop, he slowly left the pastry shop, fed and happy.

….

(Self-translation from Serbian)

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Valentina_Novković_Serbian_Writer_Serbian_Poetess_Serbian_Translator_Serbia

Negyar Nurulla Khalilova

Valentina Novković, (Serbia), is a graduate philologist, a literary translator, a poet and a prose writer. She is also an Editor at the publishing house Liberland Art and Vračar, translator of works from Russian and English authors, and presenter of the Literary Conversations program. Her verses have been translated into 22 languages: Hungarian, Russian, English, Romanian, Polish, Uzbek, Kyrgyz, Kazakh, Italian, Vietnamese, Spanish, Portuguese, Indian, Nepali and others.

Work:

Valentina Novković is the winner of many prizes for poetry and prose. She has been published in more than 20 world anthologies. Valentina Novković has translated into Serbian 15 books by authors from all over the world: Leo Butnaru, Arslan Bajir, Hosiat Rustamova, Kuchkor Narkabil, Mai Van Fan, Eduard Harents, Rahim Karimov, Ali Aliyev and many others… She interviewed more than 200 authors from of the rural world and they were published in relevant periodicals in Serbia. More than 300 poems and stories by authors from all over the world have been published in the Serbian literary magazines. Valentina Novković has published a number of books: Timeless (Poems) – 2014; Drop on Dry Land (Parthenon) – 2018; Riddles of Tenderness Liberland Art – 2021; Heavenly songs – 2022, Unrest, peace – 2023; Two Hours of Real Life (Stories) – 2020;  Memories (Novel – dedicated to her deceased father) – 2024, etc.

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More by Valentina Novković:

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Najamuddin Ahmad
10 months ago

Welldone

haseeb
10 months ago

Excellent

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