RENATO BARETIĆ > journalist and writer, making a living exclusively by writing since 1983;
> works periodically as a film and TV scriptwriter (film “Što je muškarac bez brkova”, TV series “Novo doba”, “Crno bijeli svijet” – seasons 2 and 3 – and “Dnevnik velikog Perice”), copywriter, author of questions for most popular TV quiz shows (“Kviskoteka”, “Who wants to be a millionaire?”, etc);
> working as a journalist, experienced the entire path of development, from the beginner in the section for news around the town, to reporter, TV-critic and political columnist, in most Croatian major newspapers Večernji list, Nedjeljna Dalmacija, Slobodna Dalmacija, Feral Tribune, Globus, Nacional, etc.); since 2012 freelancer;
> since 2014, instructor of creative writing in the Split-based “House of Creative Writing” and also all around Croatia, from high schools to prisons;
> member of the Croatian PEN Centre and Croatian Writers Society (“Hrvatsko društvo pisaca”), Croatian Freelance Artists Association (“Hrvatska zajednica samostalnih umjetnika”) and of cultural associations “Pričigin”, “Kurs” and “Bookvica”; used to be a member of the Croatian branch of Mensa (IQ 153), but was excluded due to regular non-payment of the membership subscription; used to be active as a co-leader of the movement for cultural revival of Croatian islands “Otoče, volim te” until its self-abolishment after the death of Zoran Franičević;
> attended one-month literary residency programmes in Belgium (Volezelle, 2007), Austria (Graz, 2009), Turkey (Istanbul, 2012), Germany (Berlin, 2014); North Macedonia (Skopje, 2017) and Slovenia (Novo Mesto, 2019).
> co-founder and, since 2007, art director of the popular story-telling festival “Pričigin” in Split;
> studied first political sciences and afterwards comparative literature and phonetics at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb, where he applied for a graduation thesis from the field of stylistics (entitled “Autopoiesis of Ivan Slamnig”), but never wrote it; got enrolled to the Faculty of Political Sciences, Journalism Studies, but abandoned it soon after the payment of the fee and recognition of several examinations;
> used to work as a warehouse assistant, assistant repairman of household appliances, assistant tile-layer, sales agent, street stall seller and administrative clerk in a factory of textile machines;
> active knowledge of English; rather good knowledge of German; passive knowledge of Italian, French, Slovenian and Macedonian;
> hobbies: amateur playing and collecting of percussion instruments, amateur sailing, amateur photography;
> born in 1963 in Zagreb, permanently resident in Split since 1996. Married to Maja, father of two children, Katarina (born 1997) and Jakov (born 2004);
e-mail: renato.baretic@gmail.com
PUBLISHED BOOKS → – “Srcem nizvodno”, (“Follow your heart downstream”) poetic essays in monograph on Croatian county Sisačko-moslavačka županija, recently suffering the aftermath of devastating earthquake in 2020; published by Tourist board of Sisačko-moslavačka županija, Sisak, 2021; – “Idemo u kino”, (“Let’s Go to Cinema”) an educational guide for schools, published by “POU Zlatna vrata”, Split, 2019; a short review of the historical development of film and cinemas, intended for children aged 7 to 15, with the main goal to explain to school children, who are growing up attached to smartphones and laptops, how important it is to watch movies (also) in a cinema, on the big screen; – “Muka malog vuka”, (“Little Wolf’s Problem”) a picture-book, published by “Semafora”, Zagreb, 2015; a story about the son of the evil wolf from many fairy-tales, an innocent little wolf on whom his father’s elderly victims want to take revenge, although he hasn’t wronged any of them; the story has been adapted for theatre (“Mala scena” in Zagreb, directed by Morana Dolenc) and publicly perceived as a peaceful plea for an individual’s right to diversity; it has received several awards for acting and directing; – “Split za početnike” (“Split for beginners”) co-authored with Ivica Ivanišević and published by “Znanje”, Zagreb, 2015; a kind of thesaurus containing fun and informative data, with almost 500 entries related to the major localities, people and events in the history and present of Split, the second largest city in Croatia; – “Hotel Grand”, published by “Algoritam”, Zagreb, 2008; a novel about formative years of a boy living in a brothel during the war in Croatia (finalist of the literary prize competitions of the Book Fair in Pula, Jutarnji list and T‑Portal for the corresponding year); translated and published in Ukraine, Slovenia, North Macedonia and Albania, and published in the original in Serbia; – “Pričaj mi o njoj” (“Talk to Me About Her”), published by “AGM”, Zagreb, 2006; a novel about a forbidden love during the wartime occupation in Croatia (semi-finalist of the literary prize competition of Jutarnji list for the corresponding year); translated and published in Ukraine and North Macedonia, translated and looking for a publisher in Italy; – “Kome ćemo slati razglednice”, (“To Whom Shall We Send Postcards”), collected poems, published by “AGM”, Zagreb, 2005; – “Kadrovi kadra” (“Frames in Frame”), a selection of newspaper columns on politics on TV and on TV in general, published by “AGM” Zagreb, 2005 – “Osmi povjerenik” (“The Eighth Commissioner”), published by “AGM” Zagreb, 2003; a novel about a young politician sent to a remote Adriatic island inhabited mostly by old people who are not interested in forming political parties and organising elections (it won five major national prizes for fiction for the year 2003 and was adapted for theatre by the Croatian National Theatre in Split in 2006 and by “Gavella” theatre in Zagreb in 2013); so far, sold in more than 23,000 copies in Croatia only; translated and published in Ukraine, Macedonia, Slovenia, Germany, France and Russia; won the reader’s prize of the INALCO institute from Paris in 2017; also in 2017, entered the finals of the audience award at the literary festival Litératures Européenes in Cognac, France); published in original in Serbia; the film based on this book (director: Ivan Salaj) was the Croatian candidate for the Oscar award in 2019; – “Riječi iz džepova” (“Words from Pockets”), collected poems, published by „Biblioteka Feral Tribune“, Split, 1998; – participated with works of fiction, poetry and essays in a dozen collections of papers and literary works in Croatian and other languages; – “Otpisane” (“Written off”), a “bitter” comedy written by order for the “Moruzgva” theatre in Zagreb; a story about a Syrian immigrant stuck in Zagreb on his way to Germany, in a flat with tree local women; it’s premiere was in 2017 and so far, it has seen almost 200 performances; – individual poems, short stories and fiction fragments translated and published also in English, Slovenian, German, Macedonian, Polish, Italian and Ukrainian; – solo photography exhibition “Brodske linije” (Boat Lines) put on in galleries in Split (2008), Zagreb (2009) and Graz, Austria (2009). Currently, I am working on the following projects: – (final stage) monograph “Jadran Lazić”, based on long talks with a famous Hollywood photographer and the first paparazzo in ex-Yugoslavia; planned to be published in June 2021 by ; – (advanced stage) novel “Deseti povjerenik” (“The Tenth Commissioner”, an auto-reflexive story about responsibility of the author towards his/her imagined characters and the real people who inspired them; planned to be published in November 2021; – (advanced stage) “Otovi alati” (“Oto’s Tools”), a chain of stories based on reminiscences about my late father, who was a versatile craftsman with a “magic touch”.