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Contributor

Ellen Elias-Bursać

Portrait of translator Ellen Elias-Bursać

Contributor

Ellen Elias-Bursać

United States

Ellen Elias-Bursać has been translating fiction and nonfiction by Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian writers since the 1980s, including novels and short stories by David Albahari, Dubravka Ugrešić, Daša Drndić, and Karim Zaimovič. She is co-author of a textbook for the study of Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian with Ronelle Alexander and author of Translating Evidence and Interpreting Testimony at a War Crimes Tribunal: Working in a Tug-of-War, awarded the Mary Zirin Prize in 2015.

Articles by Ellen Elias-Bursać

Losing Ground

By Zoran Janjanin

“It wasn’t a civil war. It was a rebellion.”

Translated from Croatian by Ellen Elias-Bursać

Brother

By David Albahari

Damned parents,” he said in a soft voice, “look what they’ve made of me.”

Translated from Serbian by Ellen Elias-Bursać

From “What are the Blind Men Dreaming?”

The compassionate understand pain, but pain cannot be understood; those who suffer understand nothing.

Translated from Portuguese and Serbian by Julia Sanches & Ellen Elias-Bursać

Head Weight

By David Albahari

In all honesty, Ruben was at a loss to explain what was happening to him.

Translated from Serbian by Ellen Elias-Bursać

Episode #18 of “Joseph and His Brothers”

By Karim Zaimović

The world is a vast tapestry, and everything in it happens at random. There are no laws, no rules. Chance determines the place each of us holds. In the weaving we are the warp and the knots, and, with…

Translated from Bosnian by Ellen Elias-Bursać

Learning Cyrillic

By David Albahari

Fridays I go to church. I do not go to pray.

Translated from Serbian by Ellen Elias-Bursać