The Bosnia List
A Memoir of War, Exile, and Return
A young survivor of the Bosnian War returns to his homeland to confront the people who betrayed his family. The story behind the YA novel World in Between: Based on a True Refugee Story.
At age eleven, Kenan Trebincevic was a happy, karate-loving kid living with his family in the quiet Eastern European town of Brcko. Then, in the spring of 1992, war broke out and his friends, neighbors and teammates all turned on him. Pero - Kenan's beloved karate coach - showed up at his door with an AK-47 - screaming: "You have one hour to leave or be killed!" Kenan’s only crime: he was Muslim. This poignant, searing memoir chronicles Kenan’s miraculous escape from the brutal ethnic cleansing…
Susan Shapiro, an award-winning writing professor, freelances for The New York Times, New York magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Elle, The New Yorker and Oprah magazines online. She’s the bestselling author or co-author of 14 books her family hates, including Five Men Who Broke My Heart, Lighting Up, Unhooked, The Bosnia List, and the inspiring writing guide The Byline Bible. She and her husband, a scriptwriter, live in Greenwich Village, where she teaches her popular “instant gratification takes too long” classes at The New School, NYU, Columbia University and in private online workshops and seminars.
The Bosnia List
Kenan Trebincevic and Susan ShapiroKenan Trebincevic was born in Brcko in 1980 to a Bosnian Muslim family exiled in the Balkan War. He came to the Unitred States in 1993, and became an American citizen in 2001. His work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, the International Herald Tribune, the Wall Street Journal, Salon, and The Best American Travel Writing 2012, and on American Public Media radio and NPR. He lives in Astoria, Queens, and works as a physical therapist. His website is www.kenantrebincevic.com.