That culture and humanity go hand in hand is evidence of the gesture of Mr. Suvad Hotic, a Novljanin, our countryman, taken by fate to Canada.
Living and working there, and having a heart and soul in Bosnia, dreaming of his homeland, waiting for the moment to come again, to visit his native land, to visit places and people that meant something to him and which he cannot forget, Suvad accepted writing.
In this way he wanted to leave a written trace of the suffering of his family and peoples in his hometown, thus creating books – the author’s first-hand testimonies “The War in Bosnia – Records and Memories” (independent project), and then cooperation with several authors in various written testimonies, memories. His texts have found their place in the book “The Bosnian Age of Novski Pouni”, authored by Professor Ante Milinović, and in the books “Mutne rijeke” and “Mutne rijeke 2”.
The collection of memories “My good mahala” is a record of the suburban settlement of Urija in Bosanski Novi, a small town at the junction of the rivers Sana and Una, otherwise the author’s birthplace.
It is a nostalgic record of childhood events, youth, texts about neighborhood people, episodes from the life of the author, but also otherwise familiar, ordinary people, a narrative full of memory and never-ending sadness about a time that will never return. A record of the bitterness caused by the deception in the people we trusted, but also a description full of humor, the unbreakable vitality of the Bosnian spirit and the joke.
The book “My good mahala” is primarily intended for people who know or remember the settlement of Urija and the town of Bosanski Novi in the last 40 or 50 years. The fact that the relatively small circulation (about 250 pieces) has literally been plundered in a few weeks is evidenced by the fact that the book is a full hit.
Since Suvad Hotic supports various social-humanitarian actions and projects in our country, this time he decided to donate all the proceeds of about 200 books sold for the work of the public kitchen of the Fenix Center in Sanski Most, while directing some of the funds to help with treatment of a demobilized army men of the Army of BiH.
When interested in ordering this book and finding out that Mr. Suvad wants to donate the proceeds from the sale to the public kitchen, many of them have also provided an additional cash contribution to support the charity’s mission. Their names are familiar to us and we thank everyone warmly!
A very big THANK YOU to Mr. Suvad Hotic for his confidence and support, wishing he had a fruitful writing career and many successful projects in the future.
FENIX Center
Sanski Most, May 2019. godine
