Letters from the Madhouse

An uncompromising account of a Bosnian writer’s life as an exile in America.

Considered a literary icon of Bosnia, Dario Dzamonja wrote raw, unfiltered accounts of life in the streets of Sarajevo and the colorful, caustic characters who inhabited them--including himself. His unmistakable voice interwove criminal slang, local vernacular, and autobiographical inquisition to craft stories in which he often served as protagonist and antagonist.

In 1993, Dario arrived in Madison, Wisconsin, fleeing the carnage of the war that ripped Sarajevo in half. Letters from the Madhouse is his uncompromising account as a refugee in America and his recollections of a lost hometown. Spoken with ashen humor, Dario details his down-and-out life in the Midwest as he pines for the past and dodges the future, taking on odd jobs and associating with sketchy characters who amble in and out of the bars he often finds himself in. Through these incendiary short stories, Dario reckons with the destruction of his city and his life before finally resolving to someday return home.

Translated by his daughter Nevena Dzamonja, Letters from the Madhouse reels between deliverance and annihilation, rapturing the reader with vivid prose and brutal detail in a collection which marks Dario Dzamonja’s English-language debut.

Dario Dzamonja (1955-2001) was the most renowned short-story author of his generation and the most influential author of post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina. His own biographical simply said: ＂My name is Dario Dzamonja. I was born in Sarajevo in 1955. I died in Sarajevo in 1993 when I left it. I died again in 1998 when I left America and my children. Now I’m trying to live again in Sarajevo from my writing.＂ Letters from the Madhouse is the first book of his to appear in English.

Nevena Dzamonja is a multi-media artist based in New York and Europe. Her work is informed by her background as a refugee and associations with subculture. Films she has worked on have been featured by HBO, Red Bull TV, SXSW, and Sundance.