The translation of the novel "The Dried-Out Mire" written by J.P. Kamov into Italian has been realised with the support of the City of Rijeka within the editorial programme of a small, but reputable publisher of European significance, Campanotto Editore. The book has been translated into Italian by Rosalba Asìno. In 2005 the same publisher published a bilingual collection "La bestemmia/Psovka" (The curse) by Janko Polić Kamov. The book cover represents the writer's portrait made by the Italian painter Massimo Malipiero.
This is one of the most significant Croatian novels in general, which owing to the complexity of its structure and questioning the extent of narration modes, is one of the greatest achievements of Croatian literature at all, and can be classified among the great novels of world literature. "The Dried-Out Mire" is placed among the ten best Croatian novels of the 20th century by the Croatian scientific theory. By publishing "The Dried-Out Mire", the novel's importance is confirmed in international relations and it deserves to be published in all world languages.

The City of Rijeka has also supported this year the translation of the same novel into the German language, while its translation into English is currently being negotiated.

The novel "The Dried-Out Mire ", written between 1906 and 1909, represents a certain avant-garde derivation, transformation and transfiguration or remodelling of the Divine Comedy by Dante. The novel, following Dante's poem, is divided into three parts; "At the bottom" is the equivalent of "The Hell", "Widening" corresponds to "The Purgatory" and "Upwards" is "The Heaven", in fact a metaphorical heaven, a transformation into metaphysical heights and the loss of one's own identity. The geographical and cultural gradation of "The Dried-Out Mire" is also interesting; "At the bottom" is Croatia; Italy is in "Widening" and France is "Upwards".
(V.T.)