LONDON LIBRARY EMERGING WRITERS PROGRAMME

This year Olja has been selected as one of 40 writers for the prestigious London Library Emerging Writers Programme 2024/25. The programme, now in its sixth year, offers invaluable support to early-career writers and provides access to one of the world's greatest literary collections.

About the Programme

This year, the 40 participants were chosen from over 1,700 applicants by a panel of esteemed judges, including writers Sophie Hannah, Sabrina Mahfouz, Amber Medland, and others. Our projects span a diverse range of genres, with writers exploring themes such as identity, global histories, fantasy, art, and the psychological impact of immigration.

My Project

Olja is developing a semi-verbatim script—a surreal, comedic drama that tells a new type of migrant story, featuring characters that break their stereotypical moulds. The work delves into the complexities of identity, home, and the immigrant experience, drawing from both personal and broader narratives.

For more details on the programme and fellow cohort members, visit https://www.londonlibrary.co.uk/about-us/latest-news/2478-emerging-writers-programme-2024-25-cohort

OPEN WIDE

Open Wide is Olja's first short film, directed by Atom Kuol and co produced by Studio Imposters and Humble Beginnings Films.

Open Wide tells the story of Anjuška, a Bosnian woman grappling with the pain of her childhood as a refugee in the UK. The narrative follows her as she confronts the deep scars left by her past, culminating in a harrowing act of revenge against a school bully from years before. This film is a visceral exploration of the pain that lingers long after the refugee experience—a throat punch to the notion that those wounds ever truly heal.

FISH

Olja's short story, Fish, won the 2022 Creative Futures Writing Award Commended Prize. Fish is a story of survival and navigating the coming of age as a refugee. It is an ode to Bosnia, a love letter to the women who experienced the war and the refugees who carry these stories today. Fish was published in 2022 and featured in the 2022 London Literature Festival at the Southbank Centre.

Olja is currently working on adapting Fish into a full length feature film.

A copy of the anthology can be purchased through the link below.

SPECTRA

Spectra was featured at the Etcetera Theatre for the 2021 Camden Fringe Festival. Spectra is a collection of the plays Wines from Santorini written by Olja and Chance of Rain written by Liane Grant, with each story depicting the intricacies of female relationships in opposing contexts.

The contrasts between the two plays are mirror-like– whilst Wines from Santorini is an intimate exploration of the complexities of childhood bonds that struggle to survive the journey into adulthood, Chance of Rain is a political drama, which examines the professional interactions of women in the workplace.

VOICE NOTES

Voice Notes, an international arts project exploring the role of the telephone in experiences of exile. Featuring recorded phone calls left by young refugees and asylum seekers from around the world, the exhibition investigates displaced voices, creative networks and transnational communication, as well as different modes of talking and listening across cultures.

This exhibition has been co-created with young people who have fled war, violence, conflict and persecution, and yet who continue to offer stories of solidarity and hope. At the heart of the installation are multidirectional ultrasonic speakers that are positioned to create a network of intersecting telephone messages. As visitors move around the gallery, they tap into stories of home and belonging, landscape and loss, and communication and connection. In turn, visitors are invited to shape new ways of thinking about sanctuary by contributing their own voice notes as part of our evolving telephonic soundscape.

Voice Notes is led by poet Dr Sarah Jackson, Associate Professor in Modern and Contemporary Writing at Nottingham Trent University, in collaboration with acclaimed sound-artist and founder of the Space21 international festival Hardi Kurda, and refugee arts organisation Compass Collective, whose recent work includes the award-winning professional development arts programme Next Steps. The project is supported by international partners including New Art Exchange, Counterpoints Arts, Refugee Roots, Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature, Slemani UNESCO Cities of Literature and STEP. It is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

Voice Notes has been exhibited internationally, with live performances and installations at Arbat Refugee Camp (Arbat, Kurdistan Region of Iraq), Space21 Sound Festival (Slemani, Kurdistan Region of Iraq), New Art Exchange (Nottingham, UK), and Yorkton Workshops (London, UK). An exhibition at Dr Guislain Museum (Ghent, Belgium) is forthcoming in November 2024.

To find out more about Voice Notes: https://crossedlines.co.uk/voice-notes/

In 2025 I am publishing and anthology on the Voice Notes project with Dr Sarah Jackson and Palewell Press.