In this episode of the EUTERPE podcast library, host Tamara Cvetković engages in a wide-ranging conversation with Olja Alvir, a multifaceted literary scholar, writer, translator, and journalist who examines the complexities of identity and migration. Born in Yugoslavia before moving to Austria in 1992, Alvir discusses her academic "excavation" of early Yugoslav partisan films to reveal their artistic value. She reflects on her position as a writer in exile whose homeland no longer exists, and the linguistic friction of navigating between German, English, and Serbo-Croatian (BCMS). Alvir candidly recounts the challenges of being a working-class woman in the male-dominated field of physics—a "heartbreak" that eventually led her toward a career in journalism, poetry, and fiction, where she now uses scientific concepts as raw material for her writing. She also explores her reputation as an unapologetic "shitposter" and enfant terrible of Austrian journalism, detailing how she used a radical online persona to highlight police repression and discrimination of migrants. From her award-winning MA thesis to her latest cryptic novel centered on the agency of "things," Alvir focuses on materials often disregarded as trash. 

This episode dives into the "dustbin" of literature and public opinion to look for the sparkly pearls that might still be found there.

The podcast transcript is available here.

For more information about Olja’s work visit https://olja.at/

This episode is part of the EUTERPE podcast Library on European Literatures and Genders from a Transnational Perspective.

The podcast is powered by the European Union, UKRI, and the Central European University Library.

Grant Agreement: 101073012 EUTERPE HORIZON-MSCA-2021-DN-01 Project.

For more information about the EUTERPE project please refer to the official project webpage https://www.euterpeproject.eu/, or follow us on Instagram @euterpe_project_ or Facebook at EUTERPE Doctoral Network Project.

This episode was produced and edited by Tamara Cvetković.

Thank you to Alexander Walker for the music and to Alice Flinta for the voice over.

Thank you also to Ninutsa Nadirashvili, Evangeline Scarpulla and Kris Orszaghova for designing the podcast covers.

This episode is also available on soundcloud.