Frosina Parmakovska (North Macedonia) writer

Bio

Frosina Parmakovska was born in Skopje in 1985. She graduated from the Department of Comparative Literature at the Faculty of Philology, in Skopje. She has obtained her MA from the Institute of Macedonian Literature on “Variations of Magical Realism in World and Macedonian Novels”, in Skopje. She has published her stories in literary magazines and in 2013 she published her novel “Writing the Lost Spheres” (Kultura). Her second novel, “The Sour Cherry Chronicle” (2014, Ili-ili) was one of the finalists for “Utrinski vesnik” Novel of the Year Award. It has been translated to Bulgarian and Ukrainian. “Countdown” is her third novel, which received Novel of the Year Award for 2017.

She has been a member of the Writers’ Association of Macedonia since February 2018. In June, 2018, she became a president of the „Lindens festival“, one of the oldest manifestations within the Association.

She has participated in numerous domestic and international literary festival and meetings, such as: Sofia International Book Fair, promotion of the novel „The Sour Cherry Chronicle“, Sofia, 2015; International Young Writers Meeting „Genç olmak genç ölmek“, Istanbul, 2017; International Literary Meeting „Sa otoka na kopnu, ka otoku na moru“, Zlarin, 2017, 2018, 2019; International Literature Festival PRO-ZA Balkan, Skopje, 2018; Literary promotion in Cetinje, 10^th anniversary of Traduki, 2018; Frankfurt Book Fair, promotion of the novel „Countdown“, Frankfurt, 2018; Leipzig Book Fair, promotion of the novel „Countdown“, Leipzig, 2019; Istanbul International Book Fair, promotion of the novel „Countdown“, Istanbul, 2019.

Residency goals 

During the residence, she will write her new novel „Backing where we were“ whose second part will be settled in Sofia. For that purpuse, staying in Sofia would be significantly helpful both for the story’s needs and the character’s needs. It would happen through a process that involves visiting important city sights, getting to know with the literature and cultural tradition, getting to know with the people through direct meetings and creating friendships, and getting to know the pulse of the city and its everyday life.

Residency materials
 

• Digital essay 'Revisiting Sofia' on Frosina Parmakovska's creative stay at Sofia Literature and Translation House in March 2020;
• Interview with Frosina Parmakovska about her approach to writing, her latest novel, and the books she (re-)discovered in lockdown.