Nikola Živković Takšev

What was your favorite book as a child?

I remember being engrossed by Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo during one summer holiday. No emotion had previously hit me that hard as had the urge for justice and revenge. I promised myself that I would reread the novel every five years. I never did.

What was the original reason or motivation why you started writing creatively?

To me, writing is a tool to understanding. Putting words down onto paper (and, more recently, typing them out on my computer keyboard) helps me better understand myself and the world around me. However, the satisfaction of composing a sentence is what drives most of my literary creation.

What was the most adventurous or thrilling thing you ever did/experienced?

If I had to pick one, it would be a motorbike road trip from the utmost north to the very south of Vietnam. Six weeks of life on two wheels, with scenery changing every 100 kilometers, was rather liberating.

Do you listen to music while reading or writing?

I have always found reading or writing to instrumental jazz music very poetic. However, I almost always fail to concentrate on both the auditory and the visual at the same time. Silence is, therefore, what I consider the preferable setting when I read or write.