Biography

Dragan Todorovic is a writer and multimedia artist. He was born in Yugoslavia, where he lived until 1995, when he moved to Canada. In Belgrade he was a journalist, an editor, and a TV personality. He started writing when he learned how to write. At first he wrote poetry, then stories, then essays, then cheques. His cheques invariably receive a warm welcome.

He studied law and journalism. Between 1977 and 1995 Dragan published extensively in the leading magazines of Yugoslavia. At some point, he won the Best Young Journalist award. During the last six years of his life in Belgrade he published four books and worked mostly on radio and television as a talk-show host, writer and producer, among other things writing and directing 24 radio-plays for Radio Politika. He also made two TV documentaries and hosted over 150 live TV shows.

He dabbled in painting and conceptual art (two exhibitions in Belgrade) and directed two theatre shows. He is in Serbian “Who is Who ”.

Dragan continued to write after moving to Canada. He wrote for The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, This, Saturday Night, Now, Ottawa Citizen and other Canadian publications. In 1997 his article Border Crossing was nominated for the Canadian National Magazine Award. In 1998 he took part in the prestigious Creative Journalism program at Banff Centre for the Arts. The essay written there was published as part of the collection To Arrive Where You Are in 2000. The same year, he worked with Ken Finkleman as the script consultant on his TV series Foreign objects (episode Evil), where he also played one of the leading roles, in spite of refusing to change his haircut.

For his multimedia work, Dragan won awards at the New York Festivals, John Caples International Awards, and Astound International Competition. Because of his never-ending love for radio, a few years ago Dragan made two projects for CBC Radio One. His most recent work was a sound-art piece for Deep Wireless Festival, titled In My Language I am Smart.

Some of the descriptions of his writing:

• “Fascinating storytelling which leads the reader imperceptibly from brilliant essayistic insights to a heavy, Hemingwayesque prose.” ¹
• “Great detail and marvellous language.” ²
• “Todorovic is an exceptional creative writer, but he is also
  an excellent reporter.” ³
• “Like a postmodern visual artist, he uses a collage technique to deconstruct – without resorting to the distancing effects of deconstructivism – the linear narratives that we use to define and understand political and military conflicts." ⁴

Barbara Ehrenreich has asked him once for permission to use one of his articles as an example for her students of journalism. He considers that to be an award.

Dragan’s writing was supported by Toronto Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts.

The Book of Revenge—his first book written in English—won The Nereus Writers’ Trust Non-Fiction Prize and was nominated for British Columbia Award for Canadian Non-Fiction. His second book in English (his first novel)—Diary of Interruped Days—was short listed for Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, for the Amazon First Novel Prize and for Toronto Book Award.

1. D. Simić, Afterword to "View Through the Window of a Subway Car" 
2. Peter Moreira, National Post [featured book]
3. Diana Adams, The Edmonton Journal
4. James Grainger, Quill & Quire, starred review