Dijana Petrova
Dijana Petrova was born on April 8, 1992 in Delčevo. She is a professor of Macedonian language and literature. She graduated from the Department of Macedonian Literature and South Slavic Literatures, at the Faculty of Philology "Blaže Koneski", Skopje, where she is continuing her studies in the second cycle of studies. She is the author of three published books: "Watching over Yourself" (novel; 2018), "Don't Cast a Shadow on the Graves" (collection of short stories; 2020), "Coming Out of the Shadow - The Secret Women's School" (novel; 2023). She is the author of many essays and short stories that have been published in several literary magazines (“Sovremenost”, “Literary Word”, “Reper”, “Blesok”, “Okno”, “Meduza”, “Mladi Makedonisti”, “Premin”). In 2023, for her short story "Rosh Hashana" she won the first prize in the competition announced by the Holocaust Fund in Macedonia. She is a two-time winner of the prestigious "Živko Chingo" award for best short story (2024, 2025).
Coming Out of the Shadow
"Antolog", Skopje, 2023
19th century in Struga, Mitra Miladinova and Sultana Miladinova, encouraged by the support offered by the Russian Slavist Viktor Ivanovich Grigorovich, begin working on something that, as it develops, becomes deeper and more serious.
Severalwasherwomen who meet on the river for the first time begin to talk about what the world would be like if women were given a voice. Against the injustice that has surrounded everyone for several centuries, they begin to speak and fight with a work that defies time and oblivion. Living and acting in the shadows comes to light when they learn about the Secret Women's School -” Ученољубие. “
Don't Cast a Shadow on the Graves
“Antolog”, Skopje, 2020
“The world into which the author leads us is both ordinary and extraordinary, mysterious and banal, close and distant, inhabited by characters with a wide range of different characteristics, in whose bizarreness, nevertheless, lies the human. This book leaves a mark, not on the body but on the soul of the reader, who wants to embark on such a strong and exciting adventure, and because of that, as well as because of the maturity, skill, and wisdom of these stories, that is, of their author.”
Frosina Parmakovska