On Friday, February 28, 2025, at 12:00 PM, a book promotion of “LAURELS FOR A WOMAN’S HEAD: The Gender Dimension of Literary Awards in Bosnia and Herzegovina” by Prof. Dr. Ajla Demiragić and Dr. Adisa Bašić will be held at the University of Sarajevo – Faculty of Philosophy.

The authors teach at the Department of Comparative Literature and Information Sciences.

The book analyzes and interprets data on literary awards given in our country over the past three decades, with the authors showing how women tend to receive awards more frequently in anonymous competitions than when the identity of the author is known. The criteria are presented as universal aesthetic standards, but the practice of awarding is often gender discriminatory. Demiragić and Bašić explore awarding as one way of evaluating and canonizing the work of contemporary female writers. The book also features interviews with ten awarded Bosnian-Herzegovinian female writers.

The study was created as part of the regional project University and Gender Mainstreaming (UNIGEM), implemented by the TPO Foundation with financial support from the Government of the United Kingdom.

The following will speak at the book presentation: Prof. Dr. Anisa Avdagić, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Philosophy in Tuzla, Prof. Dr. Andrea Lešić, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Philosophy in Sarajevo, and the authors.