Susko, Mario 1941–

(Mario Suško)

PERSONAL: Born December 17, 1941, in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia (now Bosnia and Herzegovina); married; wife's name Maria; children: Klea, Alexandria. Ethnicity: "Croat." Education: University of Sarajevo, B.A., 1965; State University New York at Stony Brook, M.A., 1969, Ph.D., 1973. Religion: Catholic.

ADDRESSES: Office—Department of English, Nassau Community College of the State University of New York, Garden City, NY, 11530-6793.

CAREER: Nassau Community College of the State University of New York, Garden City, English teacher. New York University, adjunct professor; also taught at University of Sarajevo. Instituto Italiano di Cultura di Napoli, member of scientific committee.

MEMBER: Croatian Writers' Union, Academy of American Poets.

AWARDS, HONORS: Telegram Award for poetry, 1965; A.B. Simic Award for an essay, 1970; B.H. Literary Translators' Union Annual Award, 1983; Veselin Masleša Publishing House Award, for Saul Bellow: Works, 1991; grant from Council of Europe, 1993–94; Nassau Review Poetry Award, 1997; Premio Internazio-nale di Poesia e Letteratura "Nuove Lettere," 1998; Tin Ujevic Award of Croatia, 2000.

WRITINGS:

POETRY

Mothers, Shoes, and Other Mortal Songs, Yuganta Press (Stamford, CT), 1995.

Versus Exsul, Yuganta Press (Stamford, CT), 1998.

The Life After, Yuganta Press (Stamford, CT), 2001.

Eternity on Hold, Turtle Point Press (New York, NY), 2005.

Contributor of poetry to periodicals, including Nassau Review, Seneca Review, Wind, Dream Catchers, and Potato Eyes.

TRANSLATOR INTO ENGLISH

(With E.J. Czerwinski; and editor) Twenty Yugoslav Poets: The Meditative Generation, SEEA (Stony Brook, NY), 1982.

(With E.J. Czerwinski; and editor) The Mythmakers: Contemporary Yugoslav Short Stories, SEEA (Stony Brook, NY), 1984.

H. Tahmiscic, A Poetic Portrait (poetry), DSP (Sarajevo, Yugoslavia), 1985.

(And editor) A Poetic Portrait of Dara Sekulic, SDP (Sarajevo, Yugoslavia), 1986.

(With W. Tribe) J. Hawkes, The Death of the Moric Brothers (ballad), SDP (Sarajevo, Yugoslavia), 1987.

(With W. Tribe) V. Palavestra, Legends of Old Sarajevo, SDP (Sarajevo, Yugoslavia), 1987.

V. Koroman, Verses, SDP (Sarajevo, Yugoslavia), 1988.

M. Pasic, A Different Sense (poetry), SDP (Sarajevo, Yugoslavia), 1989.

M. Jergovic, Himmel Comando (poetry), Svjetlost (Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina), 1992.

(And editor and author of introduction) Contemporary Poetry of Bosnia and Herzegovina, MCM (Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina), 1993.

UNTRANSLATED POETRY

Prvo putovanje (title means "First Journey"), Svjetlost (Sarajevo, Yugoslavia), 1965.

Drugo putovanje ili patetika uma (title means "Second Journey or Pathos of the Mind"), Mladost (Zagreb, Yugoslavia), 1968.

Fantazije (title means "Fantasies"), Svjetlost (Sarajevo, Yugoslavia), 1970.

Preživljenje (title means "Survival"), Svjetlost (Sarajevo, Yugoslavia), 1974.

Ispovijesti (title means "Confessions"), Veselin Masleša (Sarajevo, Yugoslavia), 1976.

Skladbe i odsjevi (title means "Compositions and Reflections"), Svjetlost (Sarajevo), 1977.

Zemljovidjenje (title means "Land Vision"), Alfa (Zagreb, Yugoslavia), 1980.

Gravitacije, 41, (title means "Gravitations, 41"), Svjetlost (Sarajevo, Yugoslavia), 1982.

Izabrane Pjesme (title means "Selected Poems"), Svjetlost (Sarajevo, Yugoslavia), 1984.

Izabrane pjesme (title means "Selected Poems"), Veselin Masleša (Sarajevo, Yugoslavia), 1986.

Physika Meta, ICR (Rijeka, Yugoslavia), 1989.

Knjiga izlaska (title means "The Book of Exodus"), Grafičar (Tuzla, Yugoslavia), 1991.

Priručnik za poeziju (title means "A Handbook of Poetry"), ICR (Rijeka, Croatia), 1994.

Buduća prošlost (title means "Future Past"), Egzil-abc (Ljubljana, Slovenia), 1996.

Majke, cipele i ine smrtne pjesme (poetry), Hrvatska sveučilišna naklada (Zagreb, Croatia), 1997.

Citanje zivota i smrti (title means "Reading Life and Death"), Meandar (Zagreb, Croatia), 2003.

OTHER

Duh i glina (essays; title means "The Spirit and the Clay"), Veselin Masleša (Sarajevo, Yugoslavia), 1978.

(Editor and translator, with David Harsent) Savremena britanska poezija (title means "Contemporary British Poetry"), Médunarodna Književna Manifestacija (Sarajevo, Yugoslavia), 1988.

(Editor, translator, and author of introduction) Savremena američka poezija (title means "Contemporary American Poetry"), Médunarodna Književna Manifestacija (Sarajevo, Yugoslavia), 1990.

Editor and translator of numerous other works into Croatian, often under the name Mario Suško.

Susko's work has been translated into other languages, including Italian.

SIDELIGHTS: Poet Mario Susko once told CA: "I am an author who is displaced and fights literally for his literary survival. One cannot be really accepted as a writer in another language, but one can surely try to remain faithful to one's own beliefs that language is a creative force, whether it be English, Italian, or Croatian."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Library Journal, October 1, 1998, Mirela Roncevic, review of Versus Exsul, p. 94; October 1, 2001, Mirela Roncevic, review of The Life After, p. 104; July 1, 2005, Mirela Roncevic, review of Eternity on Hold, p. 85.

Slobodna Dalmacija, July 2, 1996; April 22, 1997; December 15, 1998; June 8, 1999; October 24, 2001; June 19, 2002; February 1, 2004; August 27, 2005.

World Literature Today, winter, 1998, Barry Fruchter, review of Mothers, Shoes, and Other Mortal Songs, pp. 166-167; winter, 1999, review by Barry Fruchter and others, p. 175.