Evald Flisar (1945) has visited 98 countries, worked as an underground train driver in Sydney, editor of an encyclopaedia of science in London, author of short stories and radio plays for the BBC, and was president of the Slovene Writers’ Association (1995-2002). Since 1998 he has been the editor of Sodobnost, the oldest Slovene literary journal. He has written 15 novels (11 of them shortlisted for the Kresnik Award), 2 collections of short stories, 3 travelogues, 2 books for children and 15 stage plays (8 nominated for the Best Play of the Year Award, winning three times). He was awarded the Prešeren Foundation Prize and the Župančič Lifetime Achievement Award. His novels and plays have appeared in 250 translations in 40 languages to date, and his plays are regularly performed by professional theatres around the world. His novel On the Gold Coast was listed by the Irish Times as one of the 13 best novels about Africa written by Europeans, alongside Joseph Conrad, Graham Greene, Isak Dinesen, JG Ballard, Bruce Chatwin and other great literary names. Among his best-known works are Velika žival samote (My Father's Dreams) (Vodnikova založba, 2001), Čarovnikov vajenec (The Sorcerer's Apprentice) (Pomurska založba, 1986), Opazovalec (If I Only Had Time) (Cankarjeva založba, 2009), and Alica v nori deželi (Alice in Crazyland) (Vodnikova založba; KUD Sodobnost International, 2008). On June 29, 2023, he has become a member of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts.