ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ana Stjelja was born 1982 in Belgrade (Serbia). In 2005 she graduated from the Faculty of Philology from the Turkish Language and Literature Department. In 2009 she earned a Master’s degree in Sufism. In 2012 she obtained her PhD in Serbian Literature (with the thesis on the life and work of one of the first Serbian women writers and world travelers Jelena J. Dimitrijevic).

She is an award-winning Serbian poet, writer, translator, journalist, independent scientific researcher and editor. She published more than 30 books of different literary genres. She is the author of numerous research papers and essays on literature, feminism and diverse cultures.

She is the Editor-in-Chief of the Alia Mundi Magazine for cultural diversity, the online literary magazine Enheduana (and its blog Enheduana’s Literary Garden), the online magazine for satire Oximoron and the online magazine for poets and poetry in English Poetryzine. She is also the founder and the editor of the Web Portals: Eastern Pearl (and its blog Ibisʼ blog) dedicated to the literature, art and culture of the East, Maštoplet (and its blog Maštoplet’s blog) dedicated to children and children’s creativity. She is the founder and the editor-in-chief of Cultural Newspapers ‒ the first e-newspapers on culture.

 As an acclaimed and awarded writer, she has published her works in various Serbian and international print and online magazines, literary blogs and portals. She is the regular collaborator of The Poet Magazine (England), and the Agape Review conducting the interviews with world poets.

Also, she is the Asia and Europe Direction Editor of the Canadian Humanity Magazine, and the advisor and deputy editor of a few Chinese literary magazines.

. She successfully completed the UN Women Creative Writing Workshop Awake Not Sleeping – Reimagining Fairy Tales for a new generation and earned a Certificate of Appreciation.

In 2018 she established the Association Alia Mundi for promoting cultural diversity. She is a member of the Association of Writers of Serbia, the Association of Literary Translators of Serbia, the Association of Journalists of Serbia and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) She lives in Belgrade.

Jelena J. Dimitrijević (Jelena Y. Dimitriyevitch), is a Serbian writer and fighter for women's emancipation (gender equality activist), born in 1862. After her marriage to artillery captain Jovan Dimitrijević (Yovan Dimitrijevitch), she moved to Belgrade, where she remained until her death in 1945. She established herself as a writer who wrote poetry and prose, especially travelogues. She has traveled almost all over the world: Europe, Africa, Asia and America becoming the first Serbian woman globetrotter (a world traveler). She spoke several foreign languages. Her most significant works are: Jelenaʼs Poems (1894), Letters from Niš on Harems (1897) New women (1912, 2012), Letters from Thessaloniki (1918, 2008), Letters from India (1928), Letters from Egypt (1929), New world or in America for a year (1934), Une vision (1936) Seven Seas and Three Oceans (1940)... Jelena J. Dimitrijević is one of the most prominent Serbian women writers and a unique figure in the Serbian cultural history. She died in 1945 and she was buried in the New Cemetery in Belgrade.