Mira Mihelič-The path of Slovenian poets and writers

Mira Mihelič-The path of Slovenian poets and writers

Mira Mihelič was born on 14 July 1912 in Split. She is a Slovene’s writer and translator has got a double Prešeren Award winner (1950, 1983). Mira Mihelič was president of the Slovene Writers’ Association (1963–1966) and of the Slovene PEN centre (1966–1975). To commemorate the centenary of her birth, Slovenian Post issued a stamp set depicted her photo on January 27,2012.

Mira Mihelič is a good observer of the life around her, in her earliest works she painted a picture of life among the Slovene bourgeoisie (Obraz v zrcalu [Face in the Mirror], 1941). She died on 4 September 1985.

The moral decay of the bourgeois world is also dealt with in her dramatic works on the theme of the Second World War and the wartime occupation (Svet brez sovraštva [A World without Hatred], 1945, Ogenj in pepel [Fire and Ash], 1949), which are joined by plays featuring character- and dialogue-based comedy. She later republished her “bourgeois novels” in partly revised form as a selection entitled Plamen ali dim [Flame or Smoke].

Her stories about the social and psychological image of the bourgeoisie at a time of historical crisis were followed by two books for young readers and two historical novels, the first about a life of intrigue in the Ancient Roman city of Emona (Tujec v Emoni [A Stranger in Emona, 1978] and the second set at the time of the Congress of the Holy Alliance in Ljubljana (Cesta dveh cesarjev [The Road of Two Emperors], 1981).

In her novels, Mira Mihelič is a narrator of sublime, dynamic stories full of vivid fantasy; she is a connoisseur of human characters, which are revealed in skilfully designed literary portraits and meaningful dialogue.

As a translator of English, French and German literature, she translated more than 80 narrative and dramatic works by prominent authors. She also wrote a memoir entitled Ure mojih dni [The Hours of My Days] (1985). (Source: Slovenian Post Bulletin)