Describe your book
“Can You Run Away From Sorrow?” is a book about the lesser known side of migration – families left behind. In particular, this book focuses on mothers left behind in Belgrade following their adult children’s emigration in the 1990s. The war in Yugoslavia was a major push factor for the emigration of young and educated people who did not want to go to the war front. There were no career prospects for university-educated young people in a country torn by war and the UN embargo. Many 1990s migrants could not return to visit their families for years because of the war and sanctions. This absence had a profound effect on families left behind and, in particular, on elderly mothers. Although mothers had not seen their sons and daughters for years because of the war, they stoically carried on with doing what mothers in Serbia were expected to do for their children – sending food and recipes, celebrating their children’s birthdays although they were absent, preserving their bedrooms like museums and hoping that one day a son or a granddaughter would surprise them and walk through the door…
Why did you decide to publish it with a university press?
Publishing a book with a university press is a challenging but enriching process. Your work is carefully scrutinized by many experts during the process, making sure that not only you as an author but the university press can both stand proud behind the publication. Unlike trade press, the university press will submit your work through a rigorous review process to push you to deliver the highest quality scholarship. Don’t be discouraged by long waiting times for reviews or criticism – they are doing you a great service!
Do you enjoy the writing process?
I must admit that my experience of a writing process is a bit like a rollercoaster ride – there are smooth parts as well as those that turn you upside down and make you wonder why you chose to do it in the first place. Writing seldom happens in ideal conditions. It happens along with everything else that goes on in one’s life. On the day I received my first reviews back, my mother passed away. It took me several months to be able to write again. Keep your eyes firmly on the horizon, and you will be able to get through any storm that life brings your way. Visualize your book and keep going.
What piece of advice might you give to young academics looking to follow in your footsteps?
When looking for an academic publisher, do not look only for the most prestigious press in your field, but pay attention to the titles that the commissioning editor has published so far. Ask yourself if this editor’s curatorial signature resonates with you and your writing? Can you hear the author’s voice in those works, or do they sound a bit uniform? It is essential to find an editor who will collaborate with you and nurture your unique author’s voice to stand out from the crowd.
Ivana Bajić-Hajduković is Adjunct Professor of Food Studies at Syracuse University in London, England, and the author of “Can You Run Away from Sorrow?” (2020), published by Indiana University Press