Reading, writing, podcasting and procrastinating
Antonija Mežnarić is a Croatian writer and editor who lives and breathes speculative fiction. She writes queer horror and fantasy in Croatian and in English, mostly inspired by South Slavic folklore, which is evident in her collections of folk horror stories Mistress of Geese and The Lost Treasure Hunters and Other Tales of Folk Terrors, two published horror novellas, various short stories in anthologies and magazines, and her dark urban fantasy novel From the Cradle to the Grave.
The Croatian edition of her found footage folk horror novella The Mystery of the Lost “Treasure Hunters of Velebit”: Overview of the Material (published in The Lost Treasure Hunters collection) won the Artefakt award in 2024 for the best literary work of speculative fiction in the middle-length category.
In 2012 she received the national award Protosfera for the best speculative fiction story published by a young author. In 2020, alongside Vesna Kurilić and Ana Cerovac, she organized the literary project Decameron 2020: Stories from the Quarantine that achieved international recognition and the ESFS award for Best Internet Publication in 2021.
With Vesna Kurilić, she founded the small publishing house Shtriga, which won the ESFS award in 2021 for Best Publisher, and is the lead editor of Morina kutija, the online magazine for speculative fiction with a focus on briging stories by local authors to the wider audience. With her co-editors at Morina kutija, she also edits and co-hosts a SFERA-award winning podcast Mora FM, about writing, publishing and speculative fiction (in Croatian), and dabbles in booktube for the Morina kutija channel.
Her passion is promoting speculative fiction, especially queer and feminist books, working with and helping Croatian authors, and giving spotlight to horror in Croatia. She can be found at various local conventions discussing different topics at panels and other bookish events.
Short bio up to 100 words:
Antonija Mežnarić is a Croatian writer and editor who lives and breathes speculative fiction. She writes queer horror and fantasy, mostly inspired by South Slavic folklore, which is evident in her queer folk horror collection The Lost Treasure Hunters and Other Tales of Folk Terrors, several published horror novellas, various short stories in anthologies and magazines, and the dark urban fantasy novel From the Cradle to the Grave. You can follow her book ramblings on hauntednarratives.com or on Instagram and TikTok @antonijamezni.
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Online panels she did as a guest panelist:
Balkan Witches and Folk Horrors (an event organized by Glasgow 2024 in 2021)
Witches and Bitches (originally held and recorded at Futuricon – Eurocon 2020, in Rijeka)
Science Fiction and Fantasy in Today’s West Balkan Peninsula (a recording of the International Online Meeting of the SFF Club “G42” from Timisoara, Romania in 2020)
Some of her in-person events:
It Takes a Village: Rural Superstition and Sacrifice in Folk Horror (panel discussion) Worldcon in Glasgow 2024, from left to right: Premee Mohamed, Ruthann Jagge, Nadia El-Fassi, Antonija Mežnarić, E. Saxey
Not one sunrise more—the speculative queer (panel discussion on queer speculative fiction), SFeraKon 2023, from left to right: Vesna Kurilić, Samantha Shannon, Antonija Mežnarić, Mihaela Marija Perković
Unbury your gays: queer horror panel, SFeraKon 2024, from left to right: Antonija Mežnarić, Ivana Geček, Petra Pine
The Tale of Slavic Supernatural (book launch) SFeraKon 2023, from left to right: Vesna Kurilić, Miha Trochael, Srebrenka Peregrin, Petra Valković, Antonio Filipović, Ivana Geček, Antonija Mežnarić
Tradition of Fear: Folk Horror (discussion on folk horror, Slavic folklore, Croatian horror and inspiration behind the Mistress of Geese collection), SFeraKon 2022, Antonija Mežnarić and Vesna Kurilić
Panel discussion about local queer literature organized by our local queer NGO LORI, 2022, from left to right: Antonija Mežnarić, Vesna Kurilić, Marta Brala and Antonio Filipović
Terror From the Deep (panel discussion on aquatic horror), Liburnikon 2023, from left to right: Vesna Kurilić, Danijel Štriga, Mojca Brenko-Puzak, Antonija Mežnarić
Haunted Narratives 