Inspired by tombstones and their inscriptions, Mak Dizdar's rich and haunting poems in Stone Sleeper, his most famous work, are a journey into the mysterious heart of medieval Bosnia. The poems form a three-way dialogue between the modern poet, the Christian heretics awaiting Judgement Day beneath their enigmatically-carved tombstones, and the heretic-hunters. Beneath the local and temporal, Dizdar explores universal issues: the value of resistance, though it might be futile; of faith, though it might be illusory; and of life, though it ends in death.

"Where the past is denied or abused, how does a nation begin to rediscover its sense of self?... far from creating an exclusive voice with a rigid message, Dizdar was able through poetry to let loose a plurality of voices that not only assert the existence of a people but also express the universal need of the individual to be recognised... Francis R. Jones adds his own mark in his outstanding transmission of form and voice that feels vivid and timeless, and is described in the afterword as 'speech of eternity'."
Miriam Valencia, Modern Poetry in Translation

"Stone Sleeper, with its musical patterns, folksong-like lyrics and gaudy imagery is like a medieval dance of death: 'In this kolo of sorrow not leader nor led / You're a tavern of carrion a maggot's bed' ('A Word on Man'). At the same time it's a profound meditation on life, meaning, religion and the vicissitudes of time... Reading Stone Sleeper is like discovering a lost work by a modernist master. Its first UK publication, in Francis R. Jones' fine translation, is a genuinely important event."
Acumen

Francis R. Jones's inventive and beautiful translations convey his deep understanding of Dizdar's purpose. In addition, a penetrating analysis of Stone Sleeper's historical, religious and spiritual background is given by the distinguished scholar Rusmir Mahmutcehajic, whose book Across the Water: On the Poetry of Mak Dizdar is published by Fordham University Press.

Mehmed Alija 'Mak' Dizdar (1917-1971), considered one of the greatest Yugoslav writers, was born in Stolac, southern Bosnia. After the war, in which he was a partisan in Tito's army, he became a prominent figure in Bosnian cultural life, working as a newspaper editor, as a book publisher and, finally, as President of the Writers' Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He died in Sarajevo.