{{Short description|Croatian poet}} {{Infobox writer <!-- For more information see :Template:Infobox writer/doc. --> | name = Vesna Parun | image = Vesna parun.gif | imagesize = 200px | alt = | caption = | pseudonym = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1922|4|10|df=y}} | birth_place = Zlarin, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes | death_date = {{Death date and age|2010|10|25|1922|4|10|df=y}} | death_place = Stubičke Toplice, Croatia | resting_place = Grohote, Šolta | occupation = Poet | language = Croatian | period = 1947–2001 }}
'''Vesna Parun''' ({{IPA|hr|v̞ê̞sna pâruːn}}; 10 April 1922 – 25 October 2010)<ref name="vecernji">{{cite news|url=http://www.vecernji.hr/vijesti/preminula-je-najveca-hrvatska-pjesnikinja-vesna-parun-clanak-207296|title=Preminula je najveća hrvatska pjesnikinja Vesna Parun|last1=Videk|first1=Silva|last2=Derk|first2=Denis|date=25 October 2010|work=Večernji list|language=hr|access-date=25 October 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.stubicketoplice.hr/content.asp?CategoryID=899&NewsID=7934&LanguageID=-2 |title=Biggest Croatian poetess Vesna Parun died in Stubičke Toplice |access-date=2015-08-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924111024/http://www.stubicketoplice.hr/content.asp?CategoryID=899&NewsID=7934&LanguageID=-2 |archive-date=2015-09-24 |url-status=dead }}</ref> was a Croatian poet.<ref name="CE" />
==Biography== After schooling in Zlarin, Šibenik, and Split, she studied Romance languages and philosophy at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb. From 1947 she was an independent writer, writing poetry, essays, criticism, and children's literature. She translated works from Slovene, German, French, and Bulgarian. Her first book of poetry ''Dawns and Whirlwinds'' (1947)<ref>{{cite web |title=The greatest Croatian female poet dies |url=https://www.tportal.hr/vijesti/clanak/the-greatest-croatian-female-poet-dies-20101025 |website=tportal|date=25 October 2010|access-date=20 March 2021}}</ref> 'contrasts the youthful vibrancy, love and nature with death and the destructive forces of war'.<ref name="CE">{{cite web |title=Parun, Vesna |url=https://www.enciklopedija.hr/clanak/parun-vesna |website=Croatian Encyclopedia |publisher=Miroslav Krleža Institute of Lexicography |language=hr|access-date=20 March 2021}}</ref> It received negative reviews from the socialist-realist critics, who saw it as "apolitical" and "decadent",<ref name="CE" /> possibly for not conforming to tendencies to ideologize post-World War II poetry.<ref name="CE"/>
Starting with the poetry collection ''Black Olive Tree'' (1955),<ref>{{cite web |last1=Crnković |first1=Gordana P. |title=Croatian literature |url=https://www.britannica.com/art/Croatian-literature |website=Encyclopedia Britannica|date=29 December 2020|access-date=20 March 2021}}</ref> love was the primary motif of her written opus. Incessantly working on romantic lyrical poetry, from the 1960s on, she published satiric verses directed at politics and the erotic. She wrote more than 20 works for children alone, the most prominent and widely performed being ''Mačak Džingiskan i Miki Trasi'' (1968).<ref name="CE" /> She also wrote several drama pieces, including ''Marija i mornar'' (1960).<ref name="CE" /> Parun spent many years living in Sofia, Bulgaria, primarily in the 1960s, until she was falsely accused by the Bulgarian authorities of spying for the Yugoslavian government, and forced to leave the country in 1967, never to return again.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Zografova |first=Katya |title=The Bulgarian Odyssey of Vesna Parun |date=February 2016 |publisher=Iztok Zapad |isbn=978-619-152-803-5 |edition=1st |location=Bulgaria |pages=20-23 |language=Bulgarian}}</ref> While in Bulgaria, she wrote poetry, conducted recitals, and forged friendships with some of the country's most renowned poets and intellectuals, like Radoy Ralin, Blaga Dimitrova, and Vanya Petkova, and remains a prominent name in Bulgaria to this day.<ref name=":0" />
She was the first Croatian woman to earn a living solely by writing literature. She published, printed, and illustrated some of her own works.<ref>{{cite web|title=Vesna Parun: Bila sam majka, žena, ljubavnica, kuharica i sluškinja|url=http://www.mojevrijeme.hr/magazin/2014/04/vesna-parun-bila-sam-majka-zena-i-ljubavnica-kuharica-i-sluskinja/|website=Moje vrijeme|date=10 April 2014|language=hr|access-date=20 March 2021}}</ref>
==Selected works== Parun's other significant works include: * ''Vidrama vjerna'' (1957) * ''Patka Zlatka'' (1957) * ''Ti i nikad'' (1959) * ''Konjanik'' (1961) * ''Otvorena vrata'' (1968) * ''Ukleti dažd'' (1969) * ''Stid me je umrijeti'' (1974) * ''Igre pred oluju'' (1979) * ''Šum krila, šum vode'' (1981) * ''Salto mortale'' (1981) * ''Pokraj rijeke Kupe kad se vrapci skupe'' (1989) * ''Nedovršeni mozaik'' (1990) * ''Ptica vremena'' (1996) * ''Smijeh od smrti jači'' (1997) * ''Mozak u torbi'' (2001) * ''More jadransko'' (2001) * ''Noć za pakost: moj život u 40 vreća'' (2001) * ''Da sam brod'' (2002) * ''Suze putuju'' (2002)
==Awards== * 1959 – Poet of the Year Award * 1982 – Vladimir Nazor Award for the lifetime achievement<ref name="CE" /> * 1995 – ''Poeta Oliveatus'' at the "''Croatia rediviva: Ča, Kaj, Što – baštinski dani''" festival. * 2002 – Visoka žuta žita charter at the Poet Meetings in Drenovci for her overall literary opus and abiding contribution to the Croatian literature * 2003 – Tin Ujević Award, for the collection of sonnets ''Suze putuju'' * 2010 – European Award – Knjizevna opstina Vrsac (Literary Municipality of Vrsac)
==References== * {{cite book |title=Opća i nacionalna enciklopedija |editor=Antun Vujić |year=2009 |contribution=Parun, Vesna |language=hr}} {{Reflist}}
{{Vladimir Nazor Award for Life Achievement (literature)}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parun, Vesna}} Category:1922 births Category:2010 deaths Category:People from Šibenik Category:21st-century Croatian poets Category:Vladimir Nazor Award winners Category:Croatian children's writers Category:Croatian women children's writers Category:Croatian women poets Category:Yugoslav poets Category:Yugoslav women poets Category:20th-century Croatian poets Category:20th-century Croatian women writers Category:21st-century Croatian women writers Category:21st-century women poets