Alen Mešković was born in Bosnia in 1977, and his own life is similar to Miki’s: he lived in a refugee camp, his mother died in a Serb prison, while his father and older brother were imprisoned by the Serbs in the war. Alen arrived in Denmark in 1994 unable to speak Danish. In 2007 he contributed to Gyldendal’s anthology Nye stemmer (New Voices). His first publication was the widely acclaimed collection of poems Første gang tilbage (First time back) (2009). The book earned him the Erik Hoffmeyer Prize the same year. Published in September 2011, Ukulele-jam (Ukulele Jam) is Mešković’s first novel. In May 2012, he received a 3-year working grant from The Danish Arts Foundation for Ukulele Jam. A sequel to Ukulele Jam has recently been published in Denmark.
