Traveling / Wandaing / Escaping in the Poetry and Prose of Simo Mraović

In her work, which is an appropriate homage to Simo Mraović, the extremely talented poet who, at the end of 2008 died when he was 42 years old, the author interprets and contextualizes – at the cultural manifestation called Hvar Theater Days – the set theme of traveling / wandering / escaping in Mraović’s collections of poems: Poison Season (Sezona otrova), 1986, The romans lack mercy (Rimljanima nedostaje milosti), Osijek 1990, The shadow covers the earth (Na zemlji je sjena), Zagreb 1994, Between lips (Između usana), Zagreb 1997, Goodnight Garbo (Laku noć Garbo), Zagreb 2001, as well as in his »minority novel« Constantine, The God Fearing (Konstantin Bogobojazni), Zagreb 2003 and 2007. It is (also) possible to interpret these themes in Mraović’s opus by following the trail of the distinguishable characteristic of his literary creations: the autobiographical quality in Mraović’s novel Constantine, The God Fearing, as well as a part of his lyrics; sometimes, the theme is metaphorically – symbolical, and sometimes it is a literal, geographical category. In both cases, the author believes, Mraović’s works deal with »moving to other places«, which sometimes arises from a psychological, basic urge to leave his own milieu, which with its parts represents existential or essential threat to the poet, or perhaps that attempt aims for an abstract escape into all-world – colorful and various, »rimbaud-like« perceived cosmopolitan, sometimes meta-literal places – to which Mraović flies only in his imagination, feeling that he would never be able to go there in a real, physical way