Jusuf Sulejman (Јусуф Сулејман) was born into an Arli Romani family in Skopje, Macedonia in 1950. A university law graduate, he published his first book in 1982 and as of 2017 had written more than 15 books in various literary genres, including poetry, novelettes, short stories and children’s fiction books. He writes in both Macedonian and Romani.
Like other Balkan Romani writers, he is well integrated into the national literary landscape: since 1988 he has been a member of the Union of Macedonian Writers and is famous for his essays pleading for the equality of all human beings in the contemporary world.
As a cultural activist, he works mainly at a national level (that is, in Macedonia). He founded the International Centre for the Literature, Language and Culture of Roma – Macedonia. He has translated more than 20 books into Romani and written various essays and media reviews promoting Romani literature and culture. In 2003, he launched Prometheus, a journal for literature, culture and language published in Romani and Macedonian.
Selected bibliography
Сулејман, Јусуф. 1982. Голтарот тој човек го научи да се бори. Скопje: Студентски сбор.[Sulejman, Jusuf. Goltarot toj čovek go nauči da se bori. Skopje: Studentski sbor.]
Sulejman, Jusuf. 1983. S’është koha për elegji e megje. Shkup: Flaka e vëllazërimit.
Sulejman, Jusuf. 2009. Ko fr’f’ri kotar ko dživdipe e suvjakje/ На врвот на животот на иглата. Skopje: Internacionalno centar literaturake, čhibjake taj kultura e Romengjiri.
Sulejman, Jusuf. 2010-2011. Kjhedime lila. T. 1-3: Skopje: Internacionalno centar literaturake, čhibjake taj kultura e Romengjiri.
Sulejman, Jusuf. 2013. Топаана / Topaana. Skopje: Internacionalno centar literaturake, čhibjake taj kultura e Romengjiri.
Сулејман, Јусуф. 2015. Избор или изгор. Скопje: Силсонс. [Sulejman, Jusuf. Izbor ili izgor. Skopje: Silsois.
Сулејман, Јусуф = Sulejman, Jusuf. 1987. Со галии низ епохите = Yuz yillarca gemilerdeydik; selected and translated to Turkish by Esad Bajram. Скопје: Огледало = Skopje: Ogledalo.