Zoran Živković (writer)

Zoran Živković (Serbian Cyrillic: Зоран Живковић, pronounced [zɔ̌ran ʒǐːv̞kɔv̞it͡ɕ], born October 5, 1948) is a writer, university professor, essayist, researcher, publisher and translator from Belgrade, Serbia.

In 1973, Zoran Živković graduated in literary theory from the Department of Comparative Literature in the Faculty of Philology at the University of Belgrade. He received his master's degree in 1979 with the work “Anthropomorphism and the motif of the first contact in the works of Arthur C. Clarke” ("Antropomorfizam i motiv prvog kontakta u delima Artura Klarka") and his doctorate in 1982 from the same university. His dissertation was "The Appearance of Science Fiction as a Genre of Artistic Prose" ("Nastanak naučne fantastike kao žanra umetničke proze").

From the mid-seventies to the early nineties Živković was widely involved with science fiction. Apart from his two theses, he was a publisher (founding the Polaris imprint, through which he released over two hundred books), a translator (translating more than 70 books, mostly from English), an essayist (four of Živković's books of essays appeared in this period), a researcher (producing a large, richly illustrated, two-volume Encyclopedia of Science Fiction) and a TV host (he wrote and hosted a television series about science fiction cinema, titled The Starry Screen).

From the mid-nineties onward, Živković discontinued his engagement in SF and turned entirely to writing non-generic fiction. (In this capacity he defines himself as "a writer without any prefixes – a humble practitioner of the ancient and noble art of prose.") An early agent of his suggested Živković publish under the name "Donald Livingston," to make his work more marketable in the U.S., a suggestion which Živković rejected. Between 1993 and early 2016 he wrote 21 books of fiction which were published in 81 foreign editions, 20 languages and 23 countries.

Živković has won several literary awards for his fiction. In 1994 his novel The Fourth Circle won the "Miloš Crnjanski" award. In 2003, Živković's mosaic novel The Library won a "World Fantasy Award" for Best Novella. In 2007 his novel The Bridge won the "Isidora Sekulić" award. In 2007 Živković received the "Stefan Mitrov Ljubiša" award for his life achievement in literature. In 2014 and 2015 Živković received three awards for his contribution to the literature of fantastika: "Art-Anima", "Stanislav Lem" and "The Golden Dragon".

In 2005, Belgrade TV station Studio B produced The Collector (Sakupljač) TV series, based upon Živković's mosaic novel Twelve Collections. In 2007, notable Serbian film author Puriša Đorđević directed the film Two (Dva), based on Živković's fictional themes.

Two of Živković's stories were produced as radio broadcasts by the BBC: "The Train" (2005) and "Alarm Clock on the Night Table" (2007).

The prestigious US literary magazine World Literature Today brought a special section on Živković's writing in the November/December 2011 issue.

Since 2007 Živković has been a professor in the Faculty of Philology at the University of Belgrade where he teaches Creative Writing.