Roulette of Seven Numbers

Рулет со седум бројки

North Macedonia

Slavko Janevski

What lives and what hides in the cave – wild pigeons, bats, the bones of forgotten hermits? Or perhaps it is only a daily dwelling of some immaterial apparition, utterly trembling by the aggressiveness of the living.

Slavko Janevski is a writer belonging the very top of Macedonian contemporary literature. He is the author of poetry books, travelogues, children’s literature, movie scripts, but most of all Janevski is a unique figure due to his novels, especially from the Kukulino cycle. Kukulino is a mythical and a secret place, it is a multiple symbol of Macedonia, but it has also its own elements and characteristics, and bares some features of the drama of humanity in general. The novel Roulette of Seven Numbers is the last sequel of the cycle on Kukulino. The action takes place in a semi-realistic and semi-mythical space, somewhere in the European South, and a great many characters inhabit its narrative. The novel proposes an image of a world which managed to overcome crime and everyday small responsibilities and worries. It is a world where the benefits of advanced technology and science are being enjoyed and where the most frequent ways of communication are laughter and joy.

Slavko Janevski (1920-2000) was poet, novelist, screenplay writer, painter and member of the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts (1967). Author of many poetry and fiction books: The Blood-Stained Thread (1945), Thr Street (novel, 1950), Lyrics (1951), The Village Beyond the Seven Ash-Trees (novel, 1952), The Two Marias (novel, 1956), The Gospel According to Peyo the Smart (poetry, 1966), Kainavelia (poetry, 1968), The Stubborn Ones (novel, 1970), The Chained Apple (poetry, 1978), Astropeus (poetry, 1979), Kites (poetry, 1983), The Miracles of Awfulness – a trilogy, made up of The Legions of St. Adonis, Dog’s Crucifix and Waiting for the Plague (1984), The Nine Centuries of the Cherub (novel, 1987), Miracle Workers (novel, 1988), The Continent of Kukulino (fiction, 1996), The Dump (novel, 2000). He has received many literary awards.