Slobodan Šnajder
area: Literature
Key Facts
nationality
Kroatienarea
Literatureresidence
Zagrebrecommending institution
BMEIAtime period
January 2026 - February 2026Slobodan Šnajder (born 1948) is a Croatian writer. He studied philosophy and English at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb and has been publishing literary works in a wide range of genres for more than six decades.
As a co-founder and long-time editor of a theatre journal, he has played a significant role in shaping the Croatian theatre scene. His dramatic oeuvre comprises around 25 plays, which have been staged internationally and translated into numerous languages. His play The Croatian Faust was performed at Vienna’s Burgtheater in January 1994.
In recent years, he has increasingly focused on prose. He has published three novels to date, including The Repair of the World (Zsolnay Verlag, Vienna). His most recent novel, The Angel of Disappearance, was published in March 2025.
Slobodan Šnajder is currently working on a new novel, which is intended to form a trilogy together with two earlier works already known in the German-speaking world. The novel Mara Lajb is closely connected to Austria, engaging both with the image of “happy” Felix Austria—that is, the Habsburg Dual Monarchy—and with its darker historical dimensions.
During his residency at MQ, the author will focus intensively on researching historical sources. Planned activities include visits to Mauthausen and Linz, both of which are central to the novel, as well as research in archives and museums related to the First World War.
A particular area of interest is the aviation history of the Habsburg Monarchy, as well as Austrian history more broadly—especially where it intersects, often tragically, with Croatian history.