POETRY
Serbian Literature / Serbian Poetry
The Grand Plan
— POEM by
Maja Herman Sekulić
(Translated from Serbian)
(Nominee for Nobel Prize in Literature, 2025 from Serbia)
The train moves on
from Penn station;
It takes me to Princeton
over and over again,
Ivy League that is the plan;
What is the plan,
I knew three American Poet Laureates
personally,
Two of them loved me,
But it is not the grand plan.
I will write one day,
as soon as I resolve enigma
of the ducks swimming
with new ducklings in my fountain,
Every spring,
Every early spring
in the city,
Love is
the only plan.
….
(Self-translation from SERBIAN)
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Maja Herman Sekulić
Maja Herman-Sekulić (Serbia/USA) is an internationally published Serbian-American author of 23 books in Serbian, English German and French; her poems were translated in 25 languages. Maja is an acclaimed and award nominated poet, novelist, essayist, bilingual scholar, and a major translator. Her last book is a novel “NINE LIVES OF MILENA Pavlovic Barillli” published first in Serbia by Barilli Foundation in June 2021.
Maja Herman-Sekulić is also a world traveller and a Princeton Ph.D. in Comparative Literature. She is a member of the American and Serbian PEN, American Academy of Poets, Association of writers of Serbia and Serbian Literary Society. She was schooled and lived all over the world from Europe and USA to the Far East, and now shares her time between New York and Belgrade.
Accolade and Awards:
Of her poetry, Nobel laureate Joseph Brodsky said: “her poetry is of the rarest talent and beauty as she is herself”. Most recently she was anointed by the UN World Literary Forum their ”International Ambassador of Peace”, by the Galaxy International Foundation and Academy and the World Literature, India, their “Ambassador of Culture and Good Will”, by Global Literary Society their Administrator and unique “Global Poetry Icon” and the “Icon of Style of Serbia in last 2 centuries”. In last 3 years she was awarded 13 international literary awards in India, Italy, Turkey, US, Russia and Romania, and First Serbian Oscar for popularity. She won Citta di Galatta – Antioni de Ferraris award for the best poetry book in foreign language in 2021. Maja Herman-Sekulić has been nominated for Nobel Prize in Literature, 2025 from Serbia.
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