Results tagged “thelazarusproject”

Chicagoist fully admits we get a bit weak-kneed over Aleksandar Hemon, but the MacArthur Foundation genius stands alone with a spirited voice that embodying his adoptive city.

Last year, we spoke with local author Aleksandar Hemon on the eve of the release of his novel The Lazarus Project. We expected big things of that excellent tome, but nothing could have prepared us for the widespread acclaim and awards heaped upon Lazarus, including but not limited to National Book Critics' Circle finalist (2008), National Book Award finalist (2008), and the Trib's Heartland Award (2008).

Of all the things that popped into our inbox last night while we waited for the debate to start, perhaps this was the one that made us most excited: Chicago's Aleksandar Hemon has been nominated for a National Book Award (fiction) for his recent novel The Lazarus Project. Now's a good a time as any to check our interview with him from this spring.

In 1992, Aleksandar Hemon was offered a chance to fly from his home in Sarajevo to the United States and participate in a journalist cultural exchange program, spending a month visiting American writers and universities. Seeing the chance to escape the brewing war in Bosnia, Hemon took the offer. While visiting, war finally broke, stranding Hemon in Chicago. With only a basic grasp of the English language, Hemon settled in Chicago and set a goal to learn English within five years. Just three years later, in 1995, he had successfully written his first story in English. He would subsequently see his stories published in The New Yorker, Granta, The Paris Review, and the Best American Short Stories Collection. Besides numerous awards, he's also a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship (2003) and a MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Grant (2004).