Poet Profile

Dubravko Ivančan

One of Croatia's first haijin, Dubravko Ivančan was born in Krapina. He took the university degree at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Philosophy. He spent three years on post-graduate studies in Germany and France. He wrote about 2,000 haiku, many not yet published. Besides haiku, he published other poetry, articles, and critical studies and was a translator. Vladimir Devidé wrote: "Dubravko was among the Croatian haiku poets - pioneers, who stub up the path for haiku to become a way of expression of people in Croatia and keep up our heritage, as well."

Awards and Other Honors: [incomplete] Haiku selected for William J. Higginson's Haiku World: An International Poetry Almanac (Kodansha International Tokyo, New York, London, 1996).

Books Published: Dubravko Ivančan published 15 books: six collections of poetry, two books for children, and seven collections of haiku, including More [The Sea] (August Cesarec, Zagreb, 1974); Velegrad [Metropolis] (Alfa, August Cesarec, Zagreb, Zagreb 1977); and Život na selu [Life in the Country; Review by Etiemble] (Znanje, Zagreb 1975).

In the front of lighthouse
the boat
passing from night to night.

Crowd in the street.
Somebody smiles
to nobody.

Snowstorm in a dark
night. The snow falls
from the street lamps!

Life in the country.
Visiting my neighbor
several times a day.

The dawn.
The night separates
into the sea and the sky.

With the hay
on the wagon loaded
grasshoppers too!

It is thawing …
They awaken,
the stones in the road.

Village inn.
No table
without a quarrel.

Metropolis.
The daybreak
becomes louder.

I'm lying on the bench
covered
with the wind.

Credits: "In the front of lighthouse" - Dubravko Ivančan: More [The Sea] (August Cesarec, Zagreb, 1974); "Snowstorm in a dark" - Vladimir Devidé: Antologija hrvatskog haiku pjesništva [The Anthology of Croatian Haiku Poetry] (Naklada P.I.P.Pavičić, Zagreb 1996); "The dawn" - Dubravko Ivančan: More [The Sea] (August Cesarec, Zagreb, 1974); "It is thawing" - William J. Higginson, Haiku World: An International Poetry Almanac (Kodansha International Tokyo, New York, London, 1996); "Metropolis" Dubravko Ivančan: Velegrad [Metropolis] (Alfa, August Cesarec, Zagreb, Zagreb 1977); "Crowd in the street" - Dubravko Ivančan: Velegrad [Metropolis] (Alfa, August Cesarec, Zagreb, Zagreb 1977); "Life in the country" - Dubravko Ivančan: Život na selu [Life in the Country; Review by Etiemble] (Znanje, Zagreb 1975); "With the hay" - Dubravko Ivančan: Život na selu [Life in the Country; Review by Etiemble] (Znanje, Zagreb 1975); "Village inn" - Dubravko Ivančan: Život na selu [Life in the Country; Review by Etiemble] (Znanje, Zagreb 1975); "I'm lying on the bench" RIJEČ I SLIKA, Dubravko Ivančan and Nada Žiljak (Edited by Vladimir Devide, Galerija Sv. Ivan Zelina, 1996).

Sources Biography: We are grateful to fellow Croation poet Djurdja Vukelic Rozic for providing the poetry and other information.