written by Predrag Matvejević

 

Nothing reflects the destiny of the Mediterranean as truthfully as its islands. As a rule, we feel closer to them on summer days. In winter, many of us stay away from their shores. Yet, some islands one cannot forget, regardless of the season. Some islands are always there; some hide or vanish and re-emerge in the same place or somewhere else.

 

All sorts of islands populate our souls; lovely, seductive – accessible or imbued with secrecy or dread – inaccessible; those true and familiar islands we discovered ourselves and stayed on and those spawned by our dreams and fantasies; those islands which inspire joy and call for a journey and those which provoke anxiety and nightmares.