Martina Sopta Mlinarević

Columnist, activist (Bosna and Herzegovina)

Graduated in English literature. Became very popular as a columnist of the leading Internet Balkan portals (Poskok.info, Index.hr, and Buka), for her articles on controversial social and political themes closely related to Herzegovina, for which she was exposed to pressure on numerous occasions. In 2013, she stopped actively commenting political reality and published a book ”Neprocjenjivo” (Priceless) that soon became a best seller in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. That same year, as the only woman from Bosnia and Herzegovina she was nominated for the best unpublished poetry book in Bosnian, Montenegrin, Croatian or Serbian language for the “Slovo Makovo/Mak Dizdar” award given by the City of Sarajevo, in cooperation with the Mak Dizdar Foundation, Writers’ Association of BiH and PEN Center BiH. For Face TV she developed a concept of talk show ”Two Schools under One Roof” that was broadcast in 20 episodes that presented almost all secondary schools in Bosnia and Herzegovina; she participated in debates on topical and burning social and political issues. In the organization of State Department, she spent a month on a study trip across the U.S. organized for writers and bloggers from around the world. In 2017, she published a new book “Ljetos i drugi ledovi” (Last Summer and Other Snows), followed by “Huzur” in 2018. By the end of 2018, Bosnian-Herzegovinian women’s magazine Gracija chose her for the ”Person of the Year”.