Ana Svetel

Slovenia

Ana Svetel was born in 1990 in Maribor, Slovenia, where she graduated from II. gimnazija Maribor and the Conservatory for Music in 2009. In the same year, she moved to Ljubljana to study ethnology and cultural anthropology at the Faculty of Arts. She earned her bachelor’s degree in 2012, completed her master’s degree in 2016, and defended her PhD in 2023. She works at the Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology as a teacher and researcher.

Her profound interest in people and cultural meanings, which arises at the intersection of language and place, has deeply influenced her writing from the very beginning. Consequently, she closely intertwines her anthropological knowledge with literary creativity. She regularly publishes prose, poetry, essays, and columns in literary magazines and other media. She has participated in numerous national and international festivals (Ljubljana, Ptuj, Helsingør, Larissa, Caernarfon, Zagreb, Matosinhos, etc.) and has been a writer-in-residence through various programs (Ulysses Shelter, Reading Balkans, Croatian PEN). Her works have been included in the curricula of Slovene studies at the University of Graz and Klagenfurt and have been adapted into songs, radio plays, and theatre performances. She was among the authors presented at the Slovenia – Guest of Honour program at the Frankfurt Book Fair.

Her first book, the poetry collection Lepo in prav, was shortlisted for the Debut of the Year Award, while her second poetry collection, Marmor, was selected for the international festival Lirikonfest (Velenje) and shortlisted for the Veronika Award. Her short prose collection Dobra družba was shortlisted for the Novo mesto Award and received a warm reception from both critics and readers. Her most recent book, Steklene stene, won the Kritiško sito Award, presented by the Slovene Literary Critics’ Association.