U zamci Nefretitis

Vladimir Jakopanec (Vlado) was born in 1948 among the green hills and vineyards of western Croatia, under an oppressively authoritarian Yugoslavian communist regime. As a child of religious parents, he suffered daily bullying from teachers in primary school, traces of which can be found in his writing.He later studied English and Croatian literature and Theology, at the University of Zagreb. For more than fifteen years he worked in Zagreb’s Social Welfare Centre. Then in 1987, at the height of Yugoslavia’s worst economic crisis and just before the Serbian occupation and war in Croatia, he migrated to Melbourne, Australia, with his wife Mira (a highly respected pianist and music teacher) and their son Andrew.In Melbourne he rapidly developed his artistic skills, opening his own Artis Gilding Studio for the restoration of gilded antiques and the production of sculptures in bronze. He also continued with writing, publishing in Croatia two books of poems, a volume of short stories, and three very successful novels. His Requiem for Bella Nemeth is the first to be translated into English, but others are in progress.As he adjusted to this new life in Australia Vladimir became a careful observer of its people and their ways of life, to find his place within the Australian mainstream. As one result of that studious scrutiny, we have very worthwhile novels and stimulating and entertaining short stories. All of these, it is hoped, will be published in English so Australian readers can enjoy them as much as his many Croatian readers do.Vladimir Jakopanec rođen je 1948. godine u selu Gornja Voća, na živopisnim padinama Hrvatskoga zagorja. Kad mu je bilo svega četiri godine, s roditeljima se seli u Koprivnicu gdje provodi djetinjstvo. Nakon završene srednje škole, studira engleski i hrvatski jezik na zagrebačkom Filozofskom fakultetu te teologiju na Katoličkom bogoslovnom fakultetu u Zagrebu.Do sada je objavio dvije zbirke pjesama, romane “U zamci Nefretitis”, “Heretici”, “Requiem za Belu Nemeth”, te zbirku pripovijedaka i novella “Omara”. Vladimir Jakopanec povremeno piše i za hrvatske tiskovine u Australiji i Hrvatskoj. Bio je dugogodišnji urednik i voditelj hrvatskoga programa na 3mdr radiju u Melbourneu, gdje još uvijek surađuje s prilozima iz hrvatske povijesti, jezika i kulture, a posljednjih godina predaje hrvatski jezik na Victorian School of Languages