Check out Growing Pains, a new essay in our Bodies of the Balkans winter special. Iva Jelušić explores parental expectations that eschewed words, living instead in bodies, gestures, and things. www.womenwritethebalkans.com/essays/growi...

The third essay of our winter special Bodies of the Balkans is now on the website! @alexsaysstuff.bsky.social writes about bodies—national and personal—and costs of classification. www.womenwritethebalkans.com/essays/on-cl...

In the second part of our winter special, Bodies of The Balkans, Magdalena Crăciun guides us through the river crossing between socialist Romania and Bulgaria, exploring the shadow economy and the delicious pleasures on the other side with a touch of life-changing suspense. tinyurl.com/3v24vamk

Our winter special, "Bodies of the Balkans," begins with a piece by Alja Gudžević that takes us to Ikaria, where stories of hunger and long life unfold.

An incredible piece to be read many times. Ena, thank you for writing it.

This left me gasping for air at the end. Magnificent and crushing. Thanks for sharing, @enaselimo.bsky.social

Remarkable, moving piece by @enaselimo.bsky.social!

This is an astonishing piece of writing.

My God, what a magnificent, thoughtful, heart-wrenching piece.

We're immensely proud to share with you "Airborne," a new story by @enaselimo.bsky.social: www.womenwritethebalkans.com/essays/airbo...

We’re looking for nonfiction—of any length or form—that dives into the many meanings and manifestations of embodiment in and of the Balkans. Send us your pitches (50–100 words) by October 1 and join us for our first-ever Virtual Open House on September 24: www.womenwritethebalkans.com/specials

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We conclude our seasonal shorts series Balkan Blooms in the fields of central Serbia, where Olivera Lazarević remembers the legacy of Bulgarian seasonal labor. www.womenwritethebalkans.com/essays/when-...

What an observant essay, on home food, love, and gifting www.womenwritethebalkans.com/essays/mothe...

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🩷 We just talked about picking wild asparagus - which I've never done - last night!

Not all Balkan blooms are soft and fragrant—some are green, spiky, and delicious. This week, Rebecca Duras takes us to Istria for a hands-on introduction to the art of wild asparagus picking and shows us what to do with it once we’re back in the kitchen.🌱 www.womenwritethebalkans.com/essays/a-few...

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wonderful project

Spring is late and somewhat treacherous this year, but our first essay in the Balkan Blooms series is here, brought to you by Madeleine Corcoran. www.womenwritethebalkans.com/essays/mothe...

Spring is late and somewhat treacherous this year, but our first essay in the Balkan Blooms series is here, brought to you by Madeleine Corcoran. www.womenwritethebalkans.com/essays/mothe...

As spring approaches, we return to @rkrystalli.bsky.social luminous piece "Light Needs," which reflects on "caring for budding life" and being attuned to the many ways of sustaining it. www.womenwritethebalkans.com/essays/light...

The pieces we publish at Women* Write the Balkans transcend our platform. They have roots, histories, vivid afterlives, and we love to hear about it all. Before Balkan Blooms blossoms, savor our past pieces like “Balkan Waters” by Rebecca Duras. www.womenwritethebalkans.com/essays/balka...

Only four days left to submit your pitches for the spring Seasonal Shorts series at Women* Write the Balkans! Consider submitting your ideas and/or share widely 🌿

A superb example of history as philosophy. This is so beautifully written and it has so many reflections on heritage and memory.

Beautifully woven together, this brilliant piece by @anasekulic.bsky.social is equally moving and unsettling @womenwritebalkans.bsky.social

"Nowadays when we know that progress didn’t so much enhance as it delegitimized and eventually erased entire worlds of human existence, we tend to look for redemption in the vanished ways of life. We seek wisdom in former hardships and discomfort." www.womenwritethebalkans.com/essays/the-w...

An amazing piece! Smart, knowledgeable, sad, beautiful…

This is such a fantastic piece by the immensely talented @anasekulic.bsky.social, and chimes with so much of my family's history in the same part of Croatia. Make yourself a domaća kava and get stuck in.

Our editor, Ana Sekulić, delves into her collection of heirloom clothing, unraveling stories of craftsmanship, labor, and impact of modernity. "Somewhere along the way, that unquestionable link to history was broken by progress, preponderance of synthetic fabrics, and violence." tinyurl.com/5eaa75er

Hello to our new and old followers! W*WB is a space for writing that weaves together experience and expertise, scholarship and storytelling by women, trans, and non-binary authors. Explore the essays and subscribe to our newsletter at www.womenwritethebalkans.com 1/2

I love reading their work, but I have to say I also loved them editing my work :) Consider submitting a pitch, probs good for the soul in the dark months ahead.

As we prepare for hibernation, our minds turn to blooms. Submit 200-word pitches by Dec 20 for essays on growth, fertility, and the Balkans. www.womenwritethebalkans.com/seasonal-sho...

Our season of Balkan Ghosts is coming to an end with a splash. We proudly present "The Swimmer" by Ashira Morris: "My pool full of ghosts read magazines, splashed at crushes, slipped down the pair of arched slides." www.womenwritethebalkans.com/essays/the-s...

We are entering the final week of Balkan Ghosts with "Duh" by Aline Cateux: "I realized how much I had cemented Duh into a fictional character, a romantic stereotype of the victim who could not be anything else." www.womenwritethebalkans.com/essays/duh

Balkan Ghosts #3 is brought to you by our editor Lea: "Being fatherless begs for an explanation, preferably short and succinct. My story was a televisa presenta mess, the same kind of implausible drama my grandfather and I watched in Mexican telenovelas." www.womenwritethebalkans.com/essays/kinde...

We are proud to present the Friday Balkan Ghosts read by Natalie Kikić: "I study his pieces, his heart and liver, trying to understand the man he was. The grandfather he might have been. I search for parts to keep, but only the worst of him remains." www.womenwritethebalkans.com/essays/my-gr...

The season has changed, and with it comes the launch of our first Seasonal Shorts series—Balkan Ghosts. Over the next several weeks, we'll be sharing short takes on the things that haunt us, starting with Dijana Mujkanović's Pilgrimage to Ilije Bursaća 51.

We are thrilled that Mela Žuljević's essay, "Hercegovina Kalifornija," will reach new readers on the platform @envhistnow.bsky.social. Reappearances are dear to us because they facilitate unexpected encounters. envhistnow.com/2024/08/28/h...