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Asja Baki isa Bosnian author of poetry and prose, as well as a translator. She was selected as one of Literary Europe Live's New Voices from Europe 2017, and her writing has been translated into seven languages. Her debut, Mars, was published in English by Feminist Press in 2019. She currently lives and works in Zagreb, Croatia. Jennifer Zoble translates Balkan literature into English. Recent books include Call Me Esteban (Sandorf Passage 2021), her translation of Zovite me Esteban by Lejla Kalamuji, and Mars (Feminist Press 2019), which was selected by Publishers Weekly for the fiction list in its ""Best Books 2019"" issue. She is on the faculty of Liberal Studies at New York University, where she teaches writing and translation.
In the daring, imaginative short stories of Asja Bakic's Sweetlust, strong-minded women fight for survival and search for meaning in disturbing dystopian worlds. -Foreword Reviews, starred review Filled with a satisfying energy. -Booklist Bakic second collection, following Mars, offers spectral, speculative tales of womanhood's fluidity and ferality. -Electric Literature In these stories, the fantastic is a dark mirror of our basest desires that looks back at us, giving us just what we want, regardless of the consequences. -Autostraddle Bakic explores science and desire in this delightful and offbeat collection. -Publishers Weekly Occasionally disturbing and always intoxicating, Sweetlust is well worth the read, and difficult to put down. -BUST These stories find Bakic exploring everything from climate change to society and gender, making for a provocative and emotionally engaging read. -Tor This is an equal parts weird and skillfully witty collection and very much worth the read. -The Brooklyn Rail The incisiveness with which [these stories] are written and the perceptiveness with which they explore their subjects makes for a cohesive and satisfying read. -Words Without Borders Vivid yet nuanced, mysterious and sexy, each one of Asja Bakic's stories creates its own dangerous universe. This miraculous collection enraptured me again and again. -Chana Porter, author of The Seep Haunting, funny, and delightfully surreal, Asja Bakic's stories push fiction into exciting and unexpected realms of imagination. A visceral dive into the perils and pleasures of the human condition. -Aditi Khorana, author of The Library of Fates In Sweetlust, Asja Bakic takes on gender, society, literature, climate change, and time travel with such extraordinary ease that one might be fooled into believing such mastery is easy. The narrative is quick and sharp while, almost deceptively, shedding strange and revelatory light on some of the most intimidating subjects of our age. Evocative of the work of Joyce Carol Oates and Leonora Carrington, Asja Bakic-aided by a brilliant translator-delivers a perfectly discordant punch to the gut of matters few dare touch. Truly fearless writing strikes real fear in the heart of a reader, and in this way, Sweetlust is a truly frightful book, and Asja Bakic a singular terror. -Lina Ferreira Cabeza-Vanegas, author of Don't Come Back Sweetlust rollicks and seethes with a rakish energy, part hilarious, part bone-chilling. Translated brilliantly by Jennifer Zoble, these stories zip back and forth across the centuries. Never a dull moment! -Ellen Elias-Bursac, translator As she did in her acclaimed debut Mars, Bakic once again upends her characters' convictions and identities-and infuses each disorienting universe with sly humor and off-kilter eroticism. -Sara Luce Look, Charis Books & More
