ABOUT THE BOOK
The novel White City is an unforgettable journey which connects magic mythology, love and discovery of once path. It is a story of love, betrayal, freedom and happiness, and is full of twists and surprises. Mystery and magic of the ancient past is weaved throughout the story. White City is not a fairy tale. It is a book of life, relationships, hopes and dreams. In White City, readers can find analogies to modern life and the world, as well as reflections of their own feelings and experiences. White City explores complex relationships, such as those between family members, spouses, and friends. The overarching theme of the novel is about following our own dreams and beliefs.
The story weaves together Slavic and ancient Greek mythology, creating a unique atmosphere.
The main heroine is a young woman who is married to a tribal leader, and highly situated in society. Disagreements between the spouses begin to grow when Basha meets a mysterious traveler during a caravan’s passage through the village. From him, she learns the story of the White City. She decides to leave the village and embark on a journey in search of the mysterious city.
Give yourself to this epic adventure and discover whether Basha will find peace and happiness in the White City.
WHERE TO BUY
In Serbia: Čigoja Publishing order
Bookstores: Dereta, Vulkan, Delfi, Laguna, Aleksandar Belić, Akademija and others.
Outside of Serbia: Serbica Books order
In Toronto, you can buy the book at the Stari grad store , Etobicoke and in Studio Charm café, 621b The Queensway, Etobicoke, Toronto.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Her first published literary work, in Serbian and English, is the prose collection At the End of the World and Other Stories, for which she received a Certificate of Appreciation from Yvan Baker, Member of Parliament for Etobicoke Centre.
The stories from the collection At the End of the World and Other Stories are written for adults, not children. However, the stories are written from the perspective of a child who discovers the world, nature, the secrets of life, and finds their place in the world. Some images and themes in this book come from the author’s memories of her own childhood, which she spent in Belgrade, the capital of Yugoslavia, during the seventies. In the words of the author: “All of my childhood memories are beautiful, because I was lucky enough to grow up in a world and society of utopian communism, which nowadays seems exotic, but possessed the mysticism and spirituality that we are deprived of in modern everyday life.”
The stories from the collection At the End of the World and Other Stories can be read like fairy tales, or like a story from a child’s life. However, only an adult reader can feel and understand the symbolism, messages and hidden meanings that each story contains.
ABOUT THE AUTOR
Vesna Nedić (née Nešić) is a writer, journalist, and editor of an award-winning ethnic magazine in Toronto, Canada. Vesna is originally from Belgrade, the capital city of Serbia (formerly Yugoslavia). Since 1999, she has lived in Toronto with her family, where for many years she has been building cultural bridges between Serbia and Canada.
Writing and journalism have accompanied her since early youth—from serving as the editor of a student magazine in Belgrade, to working at Radio Studio B and writing for Politikin Zabavnik, to contributing to the newspaper Novine Toronto after immigrating to Canada.
As the founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Serbian-Canadian cultural magazine SAN, Vesna has been recognized as one of the key figures in preserving Serbian cultural heritage in the diaspora, for which she has received numerous awards and recognitions.
Her literary works include:
At the Edge of the World and Other Stories (2014) – a bilingual collection of short stories (in Serbian and English).
White City (2023) – a novel (historical fiction) published by the Belgrade publisher Čigoja Štampa. The book received excellent reception from readers and critics. White City was presented at the International Book Fair in Belgrade (2023), and to Canadian audiences in Mississauga (2024).
Vesna Nedić is currently working on her second novel, which is expected to be published in 2027.
In 2014, Vesna founded the Serbian-Canadian magazine SAN, with the mission of preserving Serbian culture, language, and identity within the diaspora. For ten years she has remained the Editor-in-Chief and a journalist in SAN magazine.
SAN magazine is published quarterly in Toronto, in print and digital editions. In 2020, SAN launched the podcast program in Serbian and English, promoting Serbian culture, tradition, and people.
In 2021, Vesna was awarded the Gold Badge by the Office for Cooperation with the Diaspora, under the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for her long-standing contribution to developing cultural activities in the Serbian diaspora in Canada.
PRAISE - White City
“Although this is her first book, Vesna Nedić, with the refined nerve of an experienced writer, reconstructs a long-past epoch of humanity to extract traditional human values from it, with love as the only reliable ally at all times, which will defend the hard-earned achievements of civilization…”
Laura Barna
Author
“I traveled to the White City with Basha, a girl of strong spirit. It was an unusual conquest of freedom, beyond the bounds of time, in the age of the old Slavs, our ancestors. Books in which you travel and with which you travel prove that we have many realities at our disposal and are not condemned only to this one, apparent reality. The White City’ is one these alternate realities. This exciting story about the conquest of freedom will leave no one indifferent.”
Vesna Aleksić
Author
“From the novel emanates its discreet but central meaning — that the human soul remains unchanged through millennia… interweaving bonds between distant past, present, and future…”
Vitomir Teofilović
Author and Literary Critique
“This novel is woven with threads of the human soul, feelings, and dreams. Through it, connections intertwine between ancient past, the present, and the future. The author plays with a story that unfolds in the time before the common era with analogies to today’s world — such as social relationships, women’s emancipation, LGBT, life in immigration, and others. Contemporary readers experience reflection through this story set in ancient times, which was also one of the author’s goals.”
Bojan Marković
Associate Professor, PhD at the Teacher Education Faculty in Belgrade
PRAISE - At the End of the World
The stories from Vesna Nesic tell us about the connection between human beings, nature and its flow. The perceptions and impressions about the nature of a young human being who is just getting started in life and already feels its beauty but also understands its limitations; experiences gladness yet still suffers; enjoys it but is afraid of it. It's about life and death as natural cycles of reciprocity disappearing, merging, updating, in infinity and eternity.
"One morning the berg sights the rays of the polar sun and at that moment he remembers his frozen ancestors, traveling through the unknown world, the secret and mystifying continent that demonically pulls him in and cast him out, and he reflects upon his own transformation."
(excerpt from the story Iceberg)
Strong, emotional, thought provoking, and deep. It's exciting and breathtaking. Stories are written as narrative poems, that the readers will find unforgettable.
Živka Perić
Author
MEDIA & PROMOTION
On April 12, 2024, the promotion of the debut novel White City by author Vesna Nedić was held in Toronto. The event was presented by Dragana Živić Ilić, professor of literature and president of the Serbian-Canadian Writers Association “Desanka Maksimović,” and Violeta Dimitrijević, literary critic and essayist. The program was hosted by Tamara Miličić Grbić from the Serbian-Canadian magazine SAN.
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