“ON THE LADDER OF SUCCESS”: ALEKSANDAR PROKOPIEV, WRITER, PROFESSOR, MUSIC LOVER, TALKS ABOUT HIS FRIENDSHIP WITH THE FAMOUS BAND “IDOLI”, ROCK AND ROLL, LIFE…

Surrounded by piles of various books and records in his family home in Pajko Maalo, our famous prose writer and essayist Aleksandar Prokopiev, as a child, established his literary-musical sediment, which will later determine his professional path in life. Although he was obsessed with reading books and listening to music, Prokopiev grew up like any other child of his time, playing on the streets of his neighborhood. It is the street, life itself and the experiences playing with several different bands that are the inspiration for his writing.

– I was born in Skopje, but was conceived in Zagreb. My parents, who are otherwise from Skopje, studied there, and I even have a story about visiting the place where I was created. That street is called “Gaeva”. I spent my childhood on the right and on the left side of the river Vardar. I often sat in my grandfather’s house in Pajko Maalo, and my parents lived on the other side of Vardar.

– The life then revolved around the neighborhood and I usually spent my childhood outside, playing with my friends, standard children’s games, such as football, marbles … There were many books in my house and I started reading quite early, but I was not an introverted child.

Characterized as the founder of Macedonian postmodernism, Aleksandar Prokopiev, now retired, is still involved in the Institute of Macedonian Literature for postgraduate studies in culturology, where he was a full professor for a long time. He has published about twenty books. For the collection of short stories “Little Man”, he won the “Balkanika” award in 2012. Prokopiev’s works have been translated into English, Japanese, French, Czech, German, Hungarian, Polish, Italian, Russian, Serbian, Croatian, Slovenian, Bulgarian and other languages. Prokopiev actively translates from several Balkan languages. He is a member of the Macedonian PEN and the Independent Writers of Macedonia. He is the artistic director of the PRO-ZA Balkan International Literary Festival.

From a young age he was infected with literature and music, but also with biology

Growing up in a family of intellectuals, Aleksandar developed his love for reading from his father, who was an architect. In his early school days, Aleksandar had another great passion, and that was biology. Together with his schoolmate, now well-known heart surgeon Salis Tajer, they won awards in biology competitions. However, whenever Aleksandar was asked what he would like to do when he grows up, he answered – literature or directing.

– I became obsessed with reading because of my father, who was a great reader, even though he was an architect, and my mother was a professor of literature. I have a huge library still left from them. Fortunately, my family was also very musical. Trajko Prokopiev is my uncle and I practically started playing the piano very early. In our house, in addition to many books, there was a huge collection of records. That is thanks to my father again. He liked two kinds of music. One that immediately came to my mind was jazz, and opera arias as well.

– I attended primary school in “Vladimir Ilich-Lenin”, and high school in “Orce Nikolov”. At school I was most interested in literature and biology. Salis Tajer and I won a biology award in Zagreb and in an interview when we were asked, ‘What will you be when you grow up?’, Salis said “a doctor”, and I said that I will either get involved with literature or directing. We were a male class and often went to parties. The whole class was quite ambitious. By the way, I was the best for literature, and then I started publishing in high school newspapers.

Making friends with Vlada Divljan and playing with the bands from which “Idoli” originated

It is not possible to talk to Prokopiev about literature without mentioning music. That speaks volumes about his passion for playing, especially keyboards, and how much music in general has inspired him to write. During his high school days he played in various rock and roll groups, primarily in Skopje, but also during his studies in Belgrade, where he was a member of the ensembles that would later give birth to the famous Yugoslav band “Idoli”.

– I should have studied either in Belgrade on comparative literature or in Prague on directing. Prague was expensive, so I went to Belgrade, where it was then the only department of comparative literature in Yugoslavia. Only 20 students were admitted. Of those 20, 11-12 eventually stayed in their studies, and of those who dropped out, some became very good writers. I lived in Belgrade for 9.5 years.

– In the second year of my studies I already started playing in groups in Belgrade. I remember the club where I started, it was called “Topchidarska Nokj”, where I was the youngest in the band. After, I played in a very good band, it was called “Bubamari”, of which, unfortunately, no one is alive except me. I lived as a tenant in the Galic family, and it turned out that Vlado Galic was studying with Vlada Divljan in high school. Through them I started playing in the band “Merlin”. We were also called “Zvuk ulice”, and then we became “Dechaci”. After I left, they formed the band “Idoli”.

My first published works are thanks to David Albahari

A rebel at heart, impulsive, a rock-star on black and white keys, but also by nature, Aleksandar often displayed that restless spirit during his studies. Having constant debates with the professors, sticking to his opinion, it was during his studies in Belgrade that Aleksandar started publishing stories and articles in the local student newspapers, articles that would be part of his first book “The Young Master of the Game” (“Mladiot majstor na igrata”), published in 1983, which is a collection of short stories.

– I had great professors at the university, but I was very impulsive. Rock and roll was burning bridges in me. As an impulsive guy, I was constantly talking, everything that came to my mind. The greatest support then was given to me by the writer David Albahari. I approached him at a table in a bar, told him I was writing and brought him my paper. So my first serious published works were thanks to Albahari. That period affected me a lot. I was lucky that then the whole life in Belgrade was dynamic and wonderful. We started from local communities, we played, we wrote and there were artists, writers, musicians everywhere. That is when postmodernism began.

He regrets not being a part of “Idoli”s first album

Aleksandar said goodbye to his intense involvement with rock and roll when he decided to enroll in postgraduate studies in Belgrade. He regrets only that he could’ve stayed a little more in those Belgrade rock and roll circles and, above all, he regrets the missed opportunity to be part of the first, already cult album of “Idoli” – “Odbrana i posledni dani”.

– When I was in the army, I decided to go to post-graduate school, thanks to all my published works I had at that time. I had a serious average in college, but I mostly enrolled because I wrote and published. As a postgraduate, I again aspired to literature and was a great postgraduate student.

– Then I told the other members of the band that I will stop playing because I enrolled in post-graduate school and I would not have the time. There were many plans for the group. However, then I quit rock and roll and regretted it because I could’ve stayed a little longer. I’m sorry for “Odbrana i posledni dani”, the first record of “Idoli”. The title is according to a book by Borislav Peki,, which is a proof of how much literature influenced us.

I constantly learn from my students

Prokopiev, although retired, regularly maintains his writing form by publishing columns in newspapers. He still accepts fierce debates, but this time he is in the role of a professor, and on the other side are his students. He says that he is constantly learning something new from them.

– I write regularly, even newspaper columns, for training. I am careful not to relax, but to be constantly on the writing alert. Coffee and cigarettes are my biggest ritual, and normally my life. It motivates me to write, to instill new situations, characters, stories.

I am involved with postmodernism, and rightly so because that direction gave me the right to play with form and openness to topics.

– You have to have concentration when writing. When you start a project, you have to commit to it. In our country, I do not believe that you can make a living just by writing. Outside the country, some authors I know personally live off just from writing. By the way, I never thought I would be a professor, but it suits me. Many of my students are excellent, they have published books. I learn from them, we debate.

Prepared by: Nikola Petrovski