Dževad Karahasan (born 25 January 1953) is a Bosnian writer, essayist and philosopher. Karahasan was awarded with Herder Prize and Goethe Medal for his writings. In 2020, the city of Frankfurt awarded him the Goethe Prize. Early life Karahasan was born in Tomislavgrad into a Bosnian Muslim family. He described his father as a "religious communist" and mother as a devoted Muslim. He himself often spent time with Franciscan friars in the local monastery. Education He studied literature and theatre at the University of Sarajevo. He received his Ph.D. from the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Zagreb. Life In 1993 Karahasan fled the war in Sarajevo, a city that plays a central role in his work. From 1986 to 1993, Karahasan was a lecturer in drama and drama theory and the dean of the Academy for Performing Arts at the University of Sarajevo, since 1993 he has been a guest lecturer at various European universities, including Salzburg, Berlin and Göttingen. Works Theatre Since 1993 Karahasan works as a dramatist for ARBOS – Company for Music and Theatre. His plays have been performed in Austria (Vienna, Krems, Hallein, Eisenstadt, Salzburg, Villach, Klagenfurt), Germany (Gera, Erfurt, Berlin, Leipzig), Bosnia-Herzegovina (Sarajevo), Ukraine (Odessa), Czech Republic (Prague, Hradec Králové, Brno), Kosovo (Pristina), Poland (Szczecin), Singapore (Singapore Arts Festival) and USA (Washington DC). Literature and essays In addition to his dramas and novel Karahasan published numerous essays in various European newspapers. Prizes Charles Veillon European Essay Prize (1994) Bruno Kreisky Prize for Political Books (1995) Herder Prize (1999) Leipzig Book Award for European Understanding (2004) Vilenica Prize (2010) Goethe Medal (2012) Goethe Prize (2020) Publications Novels and essays "The Eastern Divan", 1993 "Sarajevo, Exodus of a City," 1993 "About the exile in the open society" 1994 "King's legends," 1996 "Citizen Handke, Serbs people" in "The anxiety of the poet from reality," 1996 "Should 'Faust' be saved?" in "Freedom.Equality.Fraternity." Bregenzer Festspiele 1996 "The Shahriyar's Ring" 1997 "Forms of life" (about theatre together with Herbert Gantschacher) 1999 "The questions to the calendar" 1999 "Sara and Serafina" 2000 "The book of Gardens" 2002 "Poetics at the Border" (together with Markus Jaroschka) 2003 "The Night Council" 2006 "Reports from The Dark World" 2007 "The Shadows of The Cities" 2010 "The Solace of the Night Sky" 2015 Theatre "The Wheel of St. Catherine," National Theatre Sarajevo 1990 Abdullah Ibn al-Muqaffa" Theatre Akzent Vienna by ARBOS – Company for