On 21 September 2026, the Faculty of Philology of the University of Belgrade, where Jasmina Mihajlović graduated, will host a public lecture and conversation between Russian philosopher Andrei Makarov and writer Jasmina Mihajlović entitled “Don’t Fear Death, Fear Unread Dreams.”

The conversation with the audience will explore philosophical and literary perspectives on the phenomenon of dreams — dreams as a space of imagination, memory, another reality, and a possible dialogue between worlds.

A special place in the conversation will be devoted to the work of Milorad Pavić, in whose writing dreams, waking reality, time, death, and the boundaries between worlds continually intertwine.

The evening will also include the first public presentation of the still unpublished manuscript “Manuscript Between Worlds: A Posthumous Novel of Dreams,” based on dreams recorded by Jasmina Mihajlović between 2011 and 2021. At the heart of the book lies a literary hypothesis: that Milorad Pavić continued to write after his death.

Andrei Makarov is a Doctor of Philosophy, professor, philosopher and cultural theorist whose research encompasses the philosophy of culture, memory, identity, art and practical philosophy.

The event is conceived as an open and interactive conversation between Andrei Makarov, Jasmina Mihajlović and the audience — with no predetermined course or outcome.

Faculty of Philology, University of Belgrade
Studentski trg 3
21 September 2026, 5 p.m.

*

I should have written about this book earlier. The news, however, comes only now, with a delay caused not by literature but by history: war severed connections and separated the family that had spent years working on this unusual edition.

This is the second Iranian edition of Milorad Pavić’s “Dictionary of the Khazars” — and, most importantly, an uncensored edition.

“Dictionary of the Khazars” had already been published in Iran. The new edition, published by the Tehran publishing house Noghreh, has an entirely different history.

It all began in 2021, when literary translator Youltan Sadykova contacted me from Tehran. This was the beginning of a long and unusually warm correspondence with her and the Aslani-Fazaeli family, who are behind the Noghreh publishing house.

Books in Iran are subject to very strict censorship, but the publishers succeeded in obtaining permission from the relevant religious authorities to publish “Dictionary of the Khazars” uncensored. For this reason alone, this edition occupies a special place among the many translations of Pavić’s novel.

I also wrote a special text about Milorad Pavić and “Dictionary of the Khazars” for this edition. Youltan translated it into Persian, and the publishers included it in the book as a letter from me — a kind of manuscript, printed on a separate sheet designed like an unfurling papyrus scroll.

And then the war came.

Youltan and her husband Amin, together with his parents, the founders of the Noghreh publishing house, had been planning to move to France. Amin’s parents received their visas, while Youltan and Amin were still waiting for a response from the embassy when the war began. Youltan, who had taken part in protests in Iran and, as a Russian citizen, also feared for her own safety, temporarily returned to Russia to stay with her family. Amin and his parents remained in Iran.

And so the family that created this edition of “Dictionary of the Khazars” found itself separated.

That is why I am only now publishing the news about the book.

The video accompanying this news was filmed by Amin shortly after the book was published. His is the voice we hear; the hands opening the book and unfurling my text belong to Youltan.

At that time, the two of them were still together.

The book remained.