Journal 2020

At the end of 2019, the Bosnian writer Lana Bastašić came up with the idea that six young writers from six different countries would keep a shared journal throughout 2020, each taking turns to record their experiences over the course of two months. Neither she nor the other five—Luiza Bouharaoua (Croatia), Dijana Matković (Slovenia), Rumena Bužarovska (North Macedonia), Danilo Lučić (Serbia), and Nikola Nikolić (Montenegro)—could have imagined that they would be chronicling a year that would leave a mark on the entire planet. It is precisely this initial, innocent premise that lends the diary its unique charm. And yet, these authors are no strangers to adversity; the challenges of this year, like those in their pasts and in ours, are neither the strangest nor the worst they’ve faced.

Journal 2020 is an extraordinary book in which this literary sextet unflinchingly reveals their inner worlds. Thoughts and decisions—sometimes carefully weighed, sometimes spontaneous—fears and hopes, loneliness and rare moments of connection—all become part of their daily reality, and, by extension, ours.

Reading about the year 2020—a time when exhilaration and disappointment in humanity constantly traded places—means diving once again into your own interior world, but through the eyes of others. The shared-diary format may be unconventional, but this small orchestra plays in remarkable harmony, with each individual solo a quiet masterpiece.