Photo: Jože Suhadolnik
Anja Novak (1991) is a stage and film actress, performer, poet, and singer working with the Slovenian Mladinsko Theatre (Slovenian Youth Theatre). In 2015, she finished her Master’s degree in stage acting at the Ljubljana’s Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television with the presentation of her project titled Imela bi otroke, vrt in petnajst zajcev. The project was an exploration of interlacement between stage, poetry, and music, and was based on her own texts. In addition to working with the Slovenian Mladinsko Theatre she remains active on the independent and film scene. In the experimental musical project Dviganje Glasu, in cooperation with musician and composer Drago Ivanuša, Tomaž Grom, and Lola Mlačnik, she explores the role of the instrument, voice, body, poet, and performer. She also creates within the framework of the performative platform Via Negativa, academically engages with singing, and explores psychodrama. She cooperates with artist Nina Dragičević and is part of Svetlana Makarovič’s chanson team. Ever since high school she has been active on various independent literary platforms.
In 2019, she received the Borštnik Award for Young Actor/Actress for her performance in the play še ni naslova, directed by Tomi Janežič and produced by the Slovenian Mladinsko Theatre. In 2017, she and her co-stars received the Borštnik Award for Drama for the play Človek, ki je gledal svet. In 2015, she won the Prešeren Award for students for her project Imela bi otroke, vrt in petnajst zajcev and in 2014, the Prešeren Award with her co-stars for the play 1981. At the Slovenian film festival in Portorož, she received the Vesna Award for best leading role for her portrayal of Jasna in the short film Prespana pomlad, directed by Dominik Mencej. In late August 2020, she published her own poetry collection Rane, rane, which was nominated for best book debut at the 2020 Slovenian Book Fair.
She loves bunnies and does not have Facebook.
