This volume collects both essays and fictional material around two core topics in the long career of the Serbian writer, essayist, researcher, publisher and translator. The first topic - first contact - is chiefly represented by his comprehensive essay on "The Theme of First Contact in the SF Works of Arthur C. Clarke" and reflected on the literary level with his short stories "The Bookshop" and "The Puzzle". Two shorter essays on the second topic - time travel in SF literature - introduce, amongst others, the well-known and fascinating mosaic novel Time Gifts, which skillfully explores the more literary side of the notions of past, present and future. In the annotations the author provides insights into his take on the subjects presented.
Zoran Zivkovic graduated in literary theory from the Department of Comparative Literature at the University of Belgrade in 1973. Until his recent retirement he was a professor at the Faculty ofPhilology at the University of Belgrade where he taught Creative Writing. Zivkovic has won several literary awards for his fiction: in 1994 his novel The Fourth Circle won the Milos Crnjanski award; in 2003, his mosaic novel The Library won a World Fantasy Award for Best Novella, and in 2007 he won the Isidora Sekulic award for his novel The Bridge. In the same year he received the "Stefan Mitrov Ljubisa" award for his lifetime achievement in literature. In 2014 and 2015 Zivkovic received three awards for his contribution to the literature of fantastika: Art-Anima, Stanislav Lem and The Golden Dragon.
"Zivkoviæ's fiction is rich in unexpected turns and twists, effects before the cause, and wondrous occurrences. ? This is a fascinating mix, full of the flavor of the past, ranging from the banal to the profound, and best read in small doses." (Franz Rottensteiner, Science Fiction Studies, Vol. 46, 2019)
"It is a volume of two halves, combining as it does both fact and fiction largely built around the core ideas of 'first contact' and 'time travel'. ? the book proved to have the most interest, with ? highly original and beautifully crafted short stories based around the two core themes of the book." (John Silvester, Odyssey The e-Magazine of the British Interplanetary Society, Issue 59, 2019)
