Jelena Colak

I was born into a family of literature. My father, a well-known Balkan literary critic, university professor and writer, whose books entered many university curricula worldwide, a man of few but always extraordinarily impacting words on his students, family, and friends; and my mother, greatly loved high-school language and literature teacher, the person who has been endlessly influencing me since I was born, bestowed on me the love for literature, language, and, above all, people of the world. I am grateful to them especially today, in the era of high economic crises, emotionally devastating failures, and presence of dangerously powerful egotism among people for having taught me to give love through teaching, to have understanding for human weaknesses and failures, and to embrace all challenges of learning.