Daniel Načinović

Daniel Načinović has been credited as one of the most prominent contemporary Croatian writers.[1] He is also involved in illustration, painting and music.[2] Načinović was educated in Vinež, Labin, Pazin, Rijeka, Pula and Zagreb. He attended classical grammar school (Klasična gimnazija) at the Episcopal Seminary in Pazin, graduating in 1969. He studied philosophy and theology in Rijeka for two years. In 1975, he graduated from the Pedagogical Academy in Pula, in Croatian and Italian language. He completed his early studies of the Italian language in 1975, at the University of Siena (Italy); and later, in 2002, at the University of Camerino (Italy). He also studied at the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb.[3][4][5][6]

He worked as a journalist for newspaper Glas Istre from 1975 to 2001. For a short time (at the end of 1990 and in the first half of 1991) he worked as an editor-in-chief in the editorial office of the newly established, illustrated magazine "Naša Sloga" in Pazin. He was a member of the editorial board of the Pula literary magazine Istra, and of those of Istra kroz stoljeća and Nova Istra. In 1984 he became a member of the Croatian Writers' Association (Zagreb). With writers Aldo Kliman, Miroslav Sinčić, Stjepan Vukušić, Tatjana Arambašin and Boris Biletić, he was one of the members of the Initiative Committee, and one of the organizers of the Osnivačke skupštine Istarskog ogranka Društva hrvatskih književnika ("Founding Assembly of the Istrian branch of the Society of Croatian Writers"), held in Pula on July 2, 1990. After many years as a journalist, in 2001 he became an independent artist and writer, a member of the Croatian Association of Free Artists (Zagreb), and a member of the Croatian Journalists' Association.[4][3][5]

Načinović started writing poetry in high school. He started writing prose in the late 1960s, during his stays in Labin, Pazin and Rijeka. His first works of prose were published in the Zagreb-Rijeka Omladinski tjednik (1971) and Hrvatske novine (1971) from Eisenstadt (Željezno) in Burgenland, Austria. His first extensive selection of poems, entitled Watercolors (Akvareli), was published for the first time in the Pula magazine Istarski mozaiku (1973). While studying in Pula, Načinović was a member of the Istrian Fighter Book Club (Književnoga kluba “Istarski borac"). He published poetry and prose works, as well as translations and literary essays, on the pages of the literary magazine Istra. His first book of poems, Tu i tamo nedjelja ("Here and There Sunday"), was published by the Čakavian Parliament (Čakavski sabor) in 1976.[4][5]

Načinović also wrote several essays, and translated some of his works into several languages (English, Italian, German); his works have been published in Italian, Slovenian, Macedonian, Polish, Esperanto, and Albanian. He also contributed newspaper articles, reports, interviews, feuilletons, travelogues and reviews to various newspapers.[4][5]

Načinović performed several times at the Melodije Istre i Kvarnera.[2][7] Several songs written by Načinović won the festival. He participated in several other song contests and festivals, including Kastav's Čansonfest, which he won as best singer-songwriter in its first edition in 2019.[8] In 2003, "Trag u beskraju" (A Trail in Infinity), Načinović's version of Biagio Antonacci's "Se è vero che ci sei", written for Oliver Dragojević, won the latter several Porin Awards.

On May 24, 2013, Načinović's Čakavian adaptation of Carlo Goldoni's The Mistress of the Inn (Oštarica Mirandolina) debuted at the Istrian National Theater.[9][10]