We presented Voodoo Popeye in the previous major interview he gave for our urban digital magazine, titled Conversations with an Urban Philosopher. When we say “major interview”, we don’t mean the readership (although we know that interview certainly stands the test of time). We mean, first of all, the scope of what was said – ‘a text in which you have the opportunity to dive into some of the universal stories about life with Popeye’ (a/n). After a 30-year long career – a jubilee which he celebrates right about now – we believe you know a lot about Popeye: writer, poet, rapper, music composer, master of puns, and much more… (a/n). Now, we return to his role as an urban writer and a member of the Writers’ Association of Serbia – and the reason for this is his new book (more precisely, a collection of stories): “The Finger of Fate and Other Stories”, described as ‘a literary slap in the face of lethargy, so perfectly packaged, and only for the brave reader’ (a/n), published by an independent publishing house in Serbia – Presing. The title of this interview was actually supposed to be “The Finger of Fate and Some More Stories”, but… That didn’t happen. Nevertheless, those “some more stories” are still there (we weren’t just talking about the book), and those stories also bring you a few exclusive details from the writer’s life that he spontaneously shared with us for our digital magazine. So, let’s start & enjoy another story from Popeye…
What can you tell us about your new book “The Finger of Fate and Other Stories”?
The book was written in Montenegro last year while I was resting in the Sun, swimming, and the sounds of the sea. Actually, knowing that my vacation would be a bit retirement-like, I brought my songs from my youth to prepare them for the collection “En-chant young Voodoo” which will also be published soon (which you will be informed about in time), but then I was called by the publishing house “Presing” to whom I had previously sent one of the stories and was asked if I had any more… And what was I about to do (?) – I then sat down and wrote some twenty stories. I was certainly ready for that because I took some notes with me, so that in moments of beneficial peace and solitude I could weave those stories, and upon my arrival in Belgrade – finalize them. Some ideas were created on the spot, during that stay, such as the story “Magnetized Figs”. All in all, that summer vacation turned out great, just the way I like it – a layer of rest, a layer of creative work, fulfilled, meaningful and fruitful…
Where did “The Finger of Fate” come from as a title and what other stories do you have for us?
The Finger of Fate is a dramatic, actually theatrical text about the coach (named Stanoye) of a third-rate football club whose football players drive cars, each of which is more expensive than the value of the entire club. The original idea was to offer the text to theaters, but none of the relevant theatres responded to my offer. Only one man from a large city theater outside Belgrade answered me, but even he could not resist the influence and currents of interest that have been generating negative selection in our country for dozens of years and thereby qualitatively ruining the culture and art of this country. I was also contacted by a couple of amateur theaters, but unfortunately they did not have the resources to realize the play, and I would also like to mention the affirmative opinion and support of Alisa Stojanović (theater director and university professor, Serbia). Ahem, since that text has not made it to the theater boards, here it is now in this book. It is singled out in the title because it does not belong to short stories – and as far as those short stories are concerned, it is about the adventures of seemingly ordinary people who respond to the problems and challenges of the modern age and men in “spectacular ways”, sometimes fictional but extremely convincing and believable even as such. Let’s say that it is the most reminiscent of Daniil Harms, although unlike him, and despite the fact that my stories are colored by absurdity, paradox and bizarreness, I try not to leave anything unexplained – but that some logic, even if twisted, still serves as a link when reading (the story). I would also like to point out the unusual names and nouns that I use to the maximum this time, so in the story “Cripple Brothers”: East Clinwood, Herlock Sholmes and Thromb Raider decide to travel by a bus to a certain place with an ‘obscure name’ – while in the second story the main character is Sićo Klabinac – a DJ from the world of ‘clubbing’ who plays music in “Metropolitan”, a club named after a priest who came to the club by subway. I wouldn’t reveal any more because it would take time. The book is certainly full of unusual details and you just have to pick it up and read it with ease. In addition to fans of literature, I think comic book fans will also like it.
How is the cooperation with the independent publishing house “Presing” going?
The cooperation with “Presing” simply ‘clicked at once’ – we recognized ourselves as subjects who in a sea of literary mediocrity, self-proclaimed artists and stars, and nebulous nonsense – exist like deserted islands trying to fight for the survival of an authentic written word and in that sense leave a mark – to offer readers something alternative in the true sense of the word, something special, original and interesting. And just as the public, I would say, is already quite overwhelmed, disgusted and tired of some kind of nastiness, recycled and ‘copy-paste’ stupidity and foolishness – so we, who are some kind of symbols of originality and opposition to all this, often recognize, unite and fight in this noble idea of ours. ‘The creative and rebellious gene’ gives you no peace – you never put up with the artificially established degrading perverted value system, paid and ordered marketing and imposed standards, but you simply do not let the cultural bottom win – and of course you confirm this first of all with your artworks. As for the further cooperation with “Presing” – the plan is to publish a novel that follows the plots of some heroes from the beginning of social networks and virtual communications, and which has been sitting in a drawer the whole time – because I am aware of the superficial and short-term commitment of domestic publishers and at one point lost the will to publish books. However, at the persuasion of a close person who liked the story a lot, I decided to get active again on the matter.
You have been active in the last period on the occasion of 30 years of career. How is the commemoration of three decades of work and artistic activity going?
Exactly! I try to mark that anniversary as much as I can and please the fans in as many places as possible, which we regularly inform our followers about, primarily on social networks. I don’t have the ‘machinery’ that organizes various ‘big-name halls and ultra-popular mega-spots’ for some people on such occasions. I’m not one of those people, nor could I finance such ventures on my own, but this is exactly how it works for me, with performances in a club environment and in direct contact with the audience. There are many emotions, love and respect where I experience my popularity in a new and wonderful way. One fan told me before the performance that he would be excited just to simply see me on stage. Another case – which I assume you know about – is the one in the “Svitac” Art Club (eng. Firefly), when a young couple barely of legal age traveled from the extreme south of Serbia to Jagodina (eng. Strawberry City, central Serbia) because they did not have the opportunity to see me in the place where they live. Those are unforgettable moments for me. Just to clarify, it’s about three decades of existence on the music and public stage, and as far as artistic work is concerned – it has been present with me since I was a child – more precisely, since the second grade (of elementary school) and the first poems. And now, when I mention it, I think it is an opportune moment and an exclusive one to introduce the public to the person who, besides my uncle, is the most responsible for my literary beginnings – the person who first recognized my talent and immediately took me to the literary section she led, where she constantly encouraged me to write – my Serbo-Croatian language teacher Anica Popović from the “Sutjeska” school in Zemun (Belgrade). For me, she was the same as, let’s say, Jelena Genčić (famous tennis coach) was for (Novak) Djoković (world’s famous tennis player from Serbia). She was strict but wonderful because she instilled in me an exceptional sense of grammar, spelling, stylization of poetic expression, freedom of storytelling, and much more. The result is that I never sat for a minute with a blank exercise book. As soon as I found out about the topic from the class – I would immediately start with the writing. I was very energetic and confident. I participated in almost all literary competitions and achieved notable success at the school and at some broader (city) level. The prizes won were then in the form of letters of commendation or books with a dedication – and I keep them all to this day. I also had an eternal competitor at those contests – a friend who would sometimes ‘steal’ a first place or a prize from me, but I knew somewhere in my heart that it was (a little bit) because she was very nice in appearance and behavior and had the best grades in all subjects, so as such she had to be the favorite of all the teachers. But for me, that was more of a motive to fight in the field where I thought I should be the best. I believe that the professor knew about all this and in some discreet way indirectly exerted a motivational influence on the development of my competitive spirit.
What new things do you have in store for us in the near future?
Whoa, I’m versatile both as an author and as a person, so anything is possible. I will continue to be strongly present in the musical and literary world, but as much as time and opportunities allow me, I will try to present myself and those who would collaborate with me in multimedia – maybe a little more visual level – for example, film or theater, through writing or acting, with new skits or whatever – but I definitely plan to promote some humor and thoughts through the Internet and social networks in a short form, or read something from my books. This is all part of a larger plan, so – we’ll see… As for literature, I will soon be published by one of the London publishing houses – which has already been verified – and I know what kind of new book I’m going to write, but I’d be wise to keep quiet about it until it’s my turn… Maybe in one of the next years – because I have as many as three books published this year, and that’s more than enough, even when it comes to celebrating a jubilee.
Issued in Serbia, so far:
– Argo Embargo (collection of haiku poetry, self-published, 1995)
– Razglednice iz Bumeranga /eng. Postcards from the Boomerang/ (novel, pub. by “Rende”, 2003)
– Skupljači perja rano lete /eng. Those who gather feathers must fly early/ (comic book, pub. by “Draslar Partner”, 2005)
– Od pojasa naniže /eng. From the waist down/ (collection of stories, pub. by “Laguna”, 2008)
– Ledena zavesa /eng. The Ice Curtain/ (novel, pub. by “Most Art”, 2011)
– Nije ti fazon /eng. Not Ya Gimmick/ (a collection of poems with the entire poetic oeuvre, pub. by “NKC-Niš”, 2012)
– Tužna zemunska priča /eng. Sad story from Zemun/ (autobiographical novel, pub. by “Liberland Art”, 2024)
– Vudu priče /eng. Voodoo stories/ (collection of stories, pub. by “Liberland Art”, 2024)
– Prst sudbine i druge priče /eng. The Finger of Fate and Other Stories/ (collection of short stories, pub. by “Presing”, 2026)
Voodoo Popeye: Official web-page (& shop), Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, X.
Book’s link: The Finger of Fate and Other Stories (published by: Presing, 2026, Serbia)
Publisher’s link: Presing – Independent publishing – www.presing.org
Photography and copyright: authorized by the artist Voodoo Popeye (Radenko Stojanović).
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