7. July 2019 - “Miklja is the best journalist amongst writers and the best writer amongst journalists”, some used to say, but what does it really mean? Dušan Miklja himself laughs at this, simply continuing his work.
Miklja was born in Belgrade, where he lives today, except when he spends his time in Boka. He graduated English language and literature at the Faculty of Philology, Belgrade University.
He has been Tanjug’s (ex Yugoslavia’s official news agency) correspondent from all over the world, but especially from Africa, out of which he reported on many dramatical historical events. He knew many world leaders in person, as well as guerilla leaders. He was awarded for lifetime achievement in 1995 from the Association of Journalists of Serbia and Montenegro.
Miklja is the author of many collections of stories, travel-essayist prose and novels. His passion for Boka started long ago, before he bought a part of a house in Krašići almost thirty years ago, making him Boka's summer resident. He talks about his feelings towards this special bay in the Mediterranean for TMN:
“I try to stay here as long as I can, since it is so nice. It is good for a man to change his whereabouts from time to time. I travelled a lot, but Boka is one of my favorite places. Boka is a small cosmos. It brings together all the virtues in which a man wants to enjoy. There are a few bays and places in the world that can be compared to Boka. All the beauty is condensed in such a small space. But, a lot has changed in Boka and Tivat. Maybe for the better. But I love old towns, old streets. That's why Kotor is so dear to me, especially those old places that have been preserved. We should not leave ourselves completely covered by concrete. I am not in favour of such urban policy. We should build new, but planned, with good balance. It must be a continuous string. Because tourists have become more selective. Montenegro has so much to offer. Her traditions, customs, herbs, meals cannot be found elsewhere."
One of his novels, “Summer” (“Leto”) is dedicated to Boka:
"My book Leto happens in Boka. It is a sort of a youth thriller, but with a lot of melancholy. It happens in a small place in Boka; you can guess which one. It is about a family meeting, how they spend holidays there, gathering from different parts of the world…” After that novel, Miklja started publishing in the Laguna publishing house. The last one, “Before It's Too Late”, speaks about plenty of reasons for concern in the world.
Spending his summer in Boka, Miklja is working on his new novel. He admits to us that he expects a lot of it. It's a novel about arms traders. But there is also a love story. Despite his careful synopsis writing took him in some other direction, Miklja said. We are yet to see where.
