Akile Eminova (Акиле Еминова, born 1961) is a Romni from the so-called esnaf community in Štip, Macedonia who writes in Macedonian. She has written three novellas: Аманет Amanet; Deathbed wish (1995), Танцот на душата [Tancot na dushata; The soul dance] (2001) and Подигни ја завесата [Podigni ja zavesata; Raise the curtain], which has not been published.
Both Akile´s life path and fiction reflect the Macedonian Roma’s cultural and social history: she comes from an old and ethnically diverse town that emerged during the Ottoman empire in the Balkans and remained important during the industrialisation of modern Macedonia in the Yugoslav territories. Both Akile and her parents were factory workers, but she began to read and write from an early age (see also the interview with the author).

Fond of dramatic art, she participated as an amateur in many performances of the drama studio at the Aco Šopov Cultural Centre in Štip, with which she travelled throughout Yugoslavia. Akile believes that her participation in the studio, where she met a number of artists, and winning prizes at festivals throughout the Yugoslav federation contributed to her decision to commit herself to becoming a professional writer.

Although Akile has published only two novellas, both were a big national success. The first, Аманет [Amanet; Deathbed wish] was published after winning a national competition for unpublished works organized by Macedonian National Television and was widely acclaimed by Macedonian literary critics. The second, Танцот на душата [Tancot na dushata; The soul dance], was an even bigger success and has been presented at literary events in Graz, Austria and Berlin and Stuttgart, Germany.

Akile Eminova is a true postmodern novelist who has broken with the domination of folklore motifs characteristic of Balkan Romani prose writers without diminishing the Romani cultural heritage.

Bibliography

Еминова, Акиле. 1995. Аманет. Штип: Културно-Просветна Заедница Штип. [Eminova, Akile. Amanet. Štip: Kulturno-Prosvetna Zaednica Štip.]

Еминова, Акиле. 2001. Танцот на душата. Штип: Венециja. [Eminova, Akile. Tancot na dušata. Štip: Venecija.]