"Mites" - Chapter 1
Deep Dives
Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
-
Kosovo
15 min read
The novel is set entirely in Kosovo, exploring its capital Pristina, its disputed international recognition (104 of 193 UN members), and the complex ethnic and political tensions between Albanians and Serbs. Understanding Kosovo's contested sovereignty and post-war status provides essential context for the story's themes of searching for home in places 'going extinct.'
-
NATO bombing of Yugoslavia
12 min read
The article mentions 'a NATO-occupied bridge in Mitrovica' and the lingering presence of NATO in Kosovo. The 1999 NATO intervention that ended Serbian control of Kosovo is foundational to understanding the current political landscape the characters navigate, including the Kosovo Serb enclaves mentioned in the story.
-
Breakup of Yugoslavia
16 min read
The story references Yugoslavia as 'an experiment that never wanted them but which they were stuck inside of anyway' and mentions 'Yugoslavia's greatest bluesman.' The dissolution of Yugoslavia created the geopolitical reality the characters inhabit, and understanding this history illuminates the novel's exploration of displacement, national identity, and the search for home.
We begin the second week PILCROW’s Inaugural Serialized Novel Contest with Chapter 1 of Gregory Freedman’s Mites. Over the next two weeks, we’ll serialize the first few chapters of our remaining Finalist’s unpublished novels, and then subscribers (both free and paid) will vote on a Winner to be fully serialized here on the Substack (Finalists are awarded $500; the Winner $1,000.)
Our Finalists for this round:
Seasons Clear, and Awe by Matthew Gasda
Mites by Gregory Freedman
Notes on the State of Virginia by Peter Pnin
We’re excited to have all of you as a part of this endeavor to forge a new path for fiction on Substack. If you believe in what we’re doing, please consider offering a paid subscription.
“Mites” tells the story of two expats in Kosovo and their buffoonish attempt to make a documentary film about Milan Tešić, Yugoslavia’s greatest bluesman. It takes the reader from a NATO-occupied bridge in Mitrovica to the most beautiful parking lot in Kaçanik, from the Kosovo Serb enclave of Štrpce to Pristina’s Old Jewish Cemetery. Along the way it examines the folly of searching for a home in a world where such places are going extinct, and the inflammations that such an innocent quest can produce.
Gregory Freedman is a writer currently based in Belgrade.
⚬─────────✧─────────⚬
The first time I saw Michal I was marching in the Pristina Pride Parade. She was dancing alone, wrapped in a rainbow flag.
It’s possible, I suppose, that I had seen her before. Pristina, in spite of its status as the national capital of Kosovo—recognized as such by 104 of the 193 members of the United Nations—is a small town. Some might call it a backwater, but doing so would imply the presence of water, and Pristina has none. There was once a Pristina River, they say, but no one can remember where. It was long ago replaced by dirt and rocks and concrete. Sometimes, when you turn on the tap late at night, nothing emerges but a sputter of wind.
And yet it’s a beautiful city, in spirit if nothing else. I had lived there for the previous seven months, wandering widely and aimlessly. When you’re an unemployed foreigner in Kosovo who drinks too much and has no local friends, you have to walk a lot. Otherwise, you might forget that you’re in Kosovo.
I ...
This excerpt is provided for preview purposes. Full article content is available on the original publication.