{{Short description|Croatian-English novelist nominated for Goldsmiths Prize}}
'''Vesna Main''' (born Zagreb, Croatia) is a UK-based novelist, short-story writer, and Goldsmiths Prize nominee (shortlist).
== Biography == Vesna Main was born in Zagreb, Croatia, and later moved to Britain, where she has lived for much of her life.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Vesna Main |url=https://societyofauthors.org/soa-member/vesna-main/ |access-date=2025-11-22 |website=The Society of Authors |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Peirson-Hagger |first=Ellen |date=2019-10-31 |title=Vesna Main: "Literature is art, not a commodity" |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2019/10/vesna-main-literature-art-not-commodity |access-date=2025-11-22 |website=New Statesman |language=en-US}}</ref> She holds a BA in Comparative Literature, an MA in Shakespeare Studies and a PhD in Elizabethan Drama from the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Zip - The Bombay Literary Magazine {{!}} TBLM |url=https://bombaylitmag.com/contribution/vesna-main-issue-59/ |access-date=2025-11-22 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> Before turning to full-time fiction writing, she taught literature at universities in the UK and Nigeria and worked for the BBC.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vesna Main |url=https://seagullbooks.org/collections/author-vesna-main |access-date=2025-11-22 |website=Seagull Books |language=en}}</ref> As of recent years she divides her time between London (UK) and a small village in Poitou-Charentes, France.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />
== Career == Her short story collection ''Temptation: A User’s Guide'' (Salt, 2018) followed earlier publications and cemented her reputation for sharp, unconventional writing.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Books |first=Women Writers Women |date=2024-11-16 |title=Authors Interviewing Characters: Vesna Main |url=https://booksbywomen.org/authors-interviewing-characters-vesna-main/ |access-date=2025-11-22 |website=Women Writers, Women's Books |language=en-US}}</ref> Her novel ''Good Day?'' (Salt, 2019) is told entirely in dialogue and was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize in 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Good Day? |url=https://www.gold.ac.uk/goldsmiths-prize/prize2019/good-day/ |access-date=2025-11-22 |website=Goldsmiths, University of London |language=en}}</ref> Her most recent novel ''Waiting for a Party'' (Salt, 2024) was published to positive critical reception.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Peirson-Hagger |first=Ellen |date=2019-10-31 |title=Vesna Main: "Literature is art, not a commodity" |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2019/10/vesna-main-literature-art-not-commodity |access-date=2025-11-22 |website=New Statesman |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name = "tls">{{Cite web |title=Unacknowledged longing |url=https://www.the-tls.com/regular-features/in-brief/waiting-for-a-party-vesna-main-book-review-julia-dallaway |access-date=2025-11-22 |website=TLS |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Awards and honours ==
* Shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize (2019) for ''Good Day?''<ref>{{Cite web |title=2019 Prize |url=https://www.gold.ac.uk/goldsmiths-prize/prize2019/ |access-date=2025-11-22 |website=Goldsmiths, University of London |language=en}}</ref>
== Selected works ==
* ''Temptation: A User’s Guide'' (Salt Publishing, 2018) * ''Good Day?'' (Salt Publishing, 2019) — shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Good Day?, Vesna Main |url=https://www.saltpublishing.com/products/good-day-9781784631918 |access-date=2025-11-22 |website=Salt |language=en}}</ref> * ''Only A Lodger… And Hardly That'' (Seagull Books, 2020)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Only a Lodger . . . And Hardly That by Vesna Main |url=https://seagullbooks.org/products/only-a-lodger-and-hardly-that |access-date=2025-11-22 |website=Seagull Books |language=en}}</ref> * ''Waiting for a Party'' (Salt Publishing, 2024)
== Reception and critical commentary == Her most recent novel ''Waiting for a Party'' has been described as “surprising and refreshing … a vivid exploration of late female longing and desire” in ''The Irish Times''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kelly |first=Julia |title=Waiting for a Party by Vesna Main review: surprising and refreshing |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/review/2025/01/11/waiting-for-a-party-by-vesna-main-review-surprising-and-refreshing/ |access-date=2025-11-22 |newspaper=The Irish Times |language=en}}</ref> A review in ''The TLS'' commented that the novel invites reconsideration of what constitutes a life-well-lived, as the ninety-two-year-old protagonist re-evaluates marriage, friendship and sexuality.<ref name = "tls"/>
== References == {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Main, Vesna}} Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:21st-century Croatian women writers Category:21st-century British women writers Category:Croatian short story writers Category:British short story writers Category:Alumni of the University of Birmingham Category:Croatian novelists Category:21st-century British women novelists Category:Writers from Zagreb