Ana Pejčinova to promote ‘Desert Heart’ book in Skopje

The book ‘Desert Heart: Fifteen Years in Afghanistan’ by Ana Pejčinova will be promoted at the Laboratorijum venue on Thursday, September 17, at 20:00. The event will feature a discussion with the author, Natasha Atanasova, and Aleksandar Madzharovski.

Pejčinova’s work is noted as a rare example of documentary prose in contemporary Macedonian literature. The book is based on her fifteen years of personal and professional experience in Afghanistan, spanning from the years following the fall of the Taliban regime to the collapse of the Afghan government in 2021.

The author describes the work as a book of memories based on true events, maintaining transparency regarding the boundaries between documentation and literary reconstruction. While dialogues involve creative freedom and names are changed, the people and circumstances are real. Beyond political and military events, the book documents the daily lives, social connections, and survival rituals of ordinary people in Afghanistan.