Throughout his life Antun Soljan took an activist role in defining the tasks of the writer and the writer's relation to society. Many threads make up his creative work: fiction, essays, translations, poetry, and plays. His written works place him among the most significant of the postwar Croatian writers, but his importance as a writer and cultural figure transcends his writing. Soljan was, from 1974 to 1993, the éminence grise of the Croatian cultural scene and, because he dissented from the Communist political line, a persona non grata in public life who was prevented from appearing in the media, in interviews, or in person. His forced absence, however, guaranteed a ubiquitous presence for his ideas and views. After 1990 Soljan's was an impassioned public voice until his death.

Soljan was born in Belgrade on 1 December 1932. Only nine years old when World War II spilled over into Yugoslavia, he spent the...