Nikolic:Hotel Nicaragua

Jovan Nikolic was born in 1955 in Belgrade. From 1967, he grew up in a Roma settlement in Čačak, Serbia. He published his first verses in 1977. Since 1981, he has been living and working in Belgrade. He writes poetry, prose, theater texts, columns, and lyrics for pop and rock bands. Additionally, he works as a journalist, commentator, and columnist in Belgrade and Cologne. He emigrated to Germany in 1999 and is a recipient of numerous scholarships in Germany, Austria, France, and Croatia. He was a "Writer in Residence" and a lecturer at the Philological and Cultural Studies Faculty of the University of Innsbruck (Austria 2015). He designed and conducted numerous seminars and lectures on Roma culture and the history of the "Roma Culture Caravan" and has curated several exhibitions. His selection of poems and prose has been translated into twelve languages, is featured in numerous anthologies, and has been the subject of literary seminars and conferences in Europe and at two universities in the USA. To date, he has published 22 books of poetry, prose, and drama. He has received awards in Germany, Italy, and Serbia and is a member of the Serbian and German PEN Centers. He lives in Cologne.