Excercises for Ibn Pajko

Vežbi za Ibn Pajko

Severna Makedonija

Olivera Nikolova

Ibn Pajko was a man with a soul as gentle as a lamb. But his soul was also as strong as a lion. A single teardrop of his, they said, could carve a furrow in a stone. Those for whom he sighed in pain or love would seem as if crowned by a wreath of stars, shining like the halo of a saint and protecting him with a blade of light.

In the last ten years, Olivera Nikolova created several notable accomplishments in fiction, among which Vežbi za Ibn Pajko – Excercises for Ibn Pajko takes a special place. This is a book which ensures that man is a mystical, secretive and exciting creature that hides desires, joys and sadness deeply inside, and these are all an absolute constant regardless of exterior circumstances like belonging to a certain tradition, nation or religion. Yet the exterior circumstances cruelly and dramatically interfere and turn people’s souls upside down, throwing them from gayness into despair and from joy into complete pessimism. Nikolova also succeeded to create a novel filled with the aroma of ancient times, magic and the unfamiliar by which – as we said – the great and the tragic human heart is revealed. This is also a novel about the clash, as well as about the compatibility of differences.

Olivera Nikolova, short story writer, novelist, playwright for adults and children. Born on 11 March 1936 in Skopje. Graduated from the Faculty of Philology in Skopje. Works: Zoki Poki (prose for children, 1963), A day for Holiday (stories, 1964), The Secret of the Yellow Suitcase (novel for children, 1965), A Never Reaching Country (story for children, 1965), Winter Detectives (novel for children and teenagers, 1972), The Friends Bon and Bona (novel for children, 1974), The Silver Apple (comedy, 1975), Knock, Knock, Stojance (play for children, 1976), My Sound (novel for children, 1977), A Narrow Door (novel, 1983), The Sad Happy Vladimir (prose for children, 1984), The Wise Head (play for children, 1984), Love Hurts (novel for children, 1988), Homework (novel, 1989), Boris’ Camera (prose for teenagers, 1989), The Passage is Lit-up (novel for teenagers, 1990), Codes on the Stone (novel for teenagers, 1993), White Steps (novel for teenagers, 1993), Trombot (novel, 1996), Adam’s Rib (novel, 1999), Exercises for Ibn Pajko (novel, 2000).

She has received important literary awards.