In this month’s podcast we introduce you to Adnan Mahmutović, a Bosnian-Swedish teacher, writer, and editor, who has written extensively on war, refugees, and immigrant experiences. Adnan became a refugee of in 1993 and landed in Sweden. He worked for a decade with people with brain damage while studying English and philosophy. He has PhD in English literature and MFA in creative writing, and he is currently a lecturer and writer-in-residence at the Department of English, Stockholm University. His stories have dealt with contemporary European history, and the issues of identity and home for Bosnian refugees. ~Jane SpokenWord

Adnan Mahmutović

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Adnan Mahmutović is a Bosnian-Swedish Writer who has written extensively on war, refugees, and immigrant experiences. He has a PhD in English Literature from Stockholm University and MFA in Creative Writing from City University of Hong Kong. He has lectured at the Department of English, Stockholm University, and acted as the fiction editor at Two Thirds North, a journal of transnational writing.

He frequently reviews for scholarly journals in literary studies and creative writing, and has published scholarly articles in books and journals such as Studies in the Novel, Writing in Practice, Transnational Literature, Mosaic, ImageTexT Interdisciplinary Comics Studies, American Studies in Scandinavia, Short Fiction in Theory and Practice, The Journal of Postcolonial Cultures and Societies, The Journal of Contemporary Literature and The Coleridge Bulletin.

His stories have appeared in a range of journals including Stand and The Battered Suitcase. His short story “Gusul” was made into a short film by Artwerk, his novel “Thinner than a Hair” was the winning entry in the First-Novel competition by Cinnamon Press and his essay “Comics, War and Ordinary Miracles” has been adapted for BBC Radio.
He is a recipient of many awards for fiction and has served a judge on a number of literary prizes, including Neustadt Prize for Literature.

His publications include:
Ways of Being Free: Authenticity and Community in Selected Works by Rushdie, Ondaatje, and Okri. Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi, 2012.
Thinner than a Hair. Cinnamon Press, 2010.
How To Fare Well and Stay Fair. Salt Publishing, 2012.
The Craft of Editing. With Lucy Durneen. Routledge, 2019.
Visions of the Future in Comics: International Perspectives. With Francesco Alesio Ursini and Frank Bramlett. McFarland Press, 2017.
Which Side Are You On: Worlds of Grant Morrison. With Francesco Alesio Ursini and Frank Bramlett.
and At the Feet of Mothers 2020.

Jane SpokenWord

Street poet Jane SpokenWord’s performances represent the spoken word as it is meant to be experienced, raw, uncensored and thought provoking. From solos, to slams, duos, trios, and bands, including a big band performance at The Whitney Museum with Avant-Garde Maestro Cecil Taylor which garnered All About Jazz’s Best of 2016. Other collaborations include: Min Tanaka, Miguel Algarin, Beat Poet John Sinclair, her son HipHop musician/producer, DJ Nastee, and her partner in all things, Albey onBass. Combining the elements of spoken word, music, sound and song “Like those of the Jazz poets, the Beats, The Last Poets, Gil Scott-Heron and others – she is usually accompanied by Albey onBass Balgochian’s moaning, groaning, rumbling contrabass – adding double the gut-punch to her words.” (Raoul daGama) To preserve the cultural heritage of wording to document life, and foster a broader collective community, she brings her poetry and spoken word to a diverse set of venues including museums, festivals, libraries, slam lounges, art galleries, clubs, busking street corners and living rooms everywhere. She has authored two books of poetry with art and music by co-author Albey onBass: Word Against the Machine and Tragically Hip. Publications include: TV Baby A collection of Lower East Side artists – OHWOW, Shadow of The Geode, Bonsia Press, Stars in the Fire and Palabras Luminosas – Rogue Scholars Express and We Are Beat in the National Beat Poetry Anthology.

A special thank you to Albey ‘onBass’ Balgochian for the sound engineering in the prelude and postlude of the audio. Albey’s performances range from the Bowery Poetry Club to the Whitney Museum of American Art, his résumé includes many distinguished artists including  Nuyorican Poet Miguel Algarin, Beat Poet John Sinclair, Darryl Jones (Miles Davis, Rolling Stones,) and the Cecil Taylor Trio & Big Band  (“Best of ’05, ’09, ’16” All About Jazz) https://albeybalgochian.com/