At a Glance: Miss Ex-Yugoslavia

Miss Ex-Yugoslavia
(Miss Ex-Yugoslavia by Sofija Stefanovic)

A regular storyteller on The Moth, Sofija Stefanovic tells her story of immigrating from the former Yugoslavia to Australia during the Yugoslav Wars in her memoir Miss Ex-Yugoslavia.  As the title suggests, her book opens and closes with scenes from the Miss Ex-Yugoslavia Melbourne 2005 beauty pageant that Stefanovic entered as a film student to make a short documentary.  The contestants are women from former Yugoslavian countries, and the prize is a trip back home.  Originally from Belgrade, Stefanovic takes her readers back and forth between Serbia and Australia as her parents struggle with the political situation and one another to settle down.  Stefanovic often employs self-deprecating humor, which is mostly funny, but sometimes misses its mark.  Despite this, her observations about her parents—both humorous and tragic—are particularly compelling.

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