My goal during the residency is twofold. First: Complete a mini-collection of five short stories, focusing on the naturalised Austrians who were children when they left Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the first-generation citizens, that is, Austria-born children of immigrants and refugees from BH (and other Balkan countries). I want to examine their connections to, as well as their detachments from BH, and probe into the cultural differences and perceptions through the prism of mundane moments. I plan to interview Austrians born to Austrian parents as well, in order to understand their points of view on the refugee community and their children. I believe that the cultural and generational viewpoints will be very interesting and telling.

Second: Experience Austria’s culture, history, tradition, and customs, as well as Vienna’s incontrovertible multiculturalism, all essential for completing my novel series which is based on the multiplicity of the world’s creatures, whilst probing into the social norms, moral standards, and examining the ethical dimension within its reality. To be able to write about people from various and vastly different backgrounds, I find it unequivocally vital for an author to gain a first-hand experience of that multifariousness herself.