Valentina Novković

Executioner

Time, a lollipop

in a child’s hands, 

seems to last forever

a sweet trace

on the palate of desire. 

It seems the sky

will be clear forever

and footsteps 

will echo happily 

on the pavement. 

Time,

the sycophant that smiles

at us while stealing

the most beautiful 

fruit from hidden orchards,

while lulling us

to sleep 

with the thought

that there is time

for everything, 

that we should not rush.

Time, 

by which we measure

sad and beautiful moments,

is our greatest executioner,

if we offer our necks to it.

Valentina Novković, (Serbia) graduate philologist, literary translator, poet and prose writer. Editor at the publishing house Liberland Art and Vračar, translator of works by Russian- and English-speaking authors. Her verses have been translated into 22 languages, she is the winner of many prizes for poetry and prose, she is represented in more than 20 world anthologies. Editor and presenter of the Literary Conversations program. 

She translated into Serbian 15 books by authors from all over the world: Leo Butnaru, Arslan Bajir, Hosiat Rustamova, Kuchkor Narkabil, Mai Van Fan, Eduard Harents, Rahim Karimov, Ali Aliyev and many others… She interviewed more than 200 authors from of the rural world and they were published in relevant periodicals in Serbia. More than 300 poems and stories by authors from all over the world have been published in Serbian literary magazines, and an anthology in which these authors will be represented is being prepared.

Published books: 

Timeless, 2014, poems, 

Drop on dry land, 2018. Parthenon, 

Riddles of tenderness Liberland Art, 2021, 

Heavenly songs, Ace publishing house, 2022, 

Unrest, peace, 2023,

Two hours of real life, 2020, stories

Memories, 2024, a novel dedicated to her deceased father.

Edited and Published by Md Sadiqur Rahman Rumen. Editor in chief pencraft literary Magazine Bangladesh

Valentina Novković