Ivan Baran (born 16 November 1996) is a Croatian writer. He is the author of epic fantasy tetralogy "The Black Books Cycle" and the philosophical novels "Samuel Gide, Monsieur August" and "The Great Fall". He lives and writes in Vukovar, Croatia.
Early years.
Ivan Baran was born on November 16, 1996, in Zagreb. His father was a veteran of Croatian War of Independence, serving in 204th Vukovar Brigade in Battle for Vukovar and was a prisoner of war of Sremska Mitrovica Prison in Serbia. His parents divorced in 1999, after which Baran, along with his two brothers, spent four and a half years in two children's homes, which he left as a 7-year-old. He lived in Vukovar since 2005, together with his father, until the latter passed away.
Career.
Baran began writing his debut novel, titled "Enzolart", in the summer of 2009, as a twelve-year-old. He finished writing it in 2012, the same year his father died.
As a fifteen-year-old in 2012, Baran edited the book "Enzolart" and prepared it for publishing. In the spring of 2014, "Enzolart" was published as the book one of the epic fantasy series named "The Black Books Cycle (Ciklus Crnih Knjiga)."
Book two of "The Black Books Cycle", titled "Mord Dur'agemski", was published as an e-book in two parts, "Mord Dur'agemski, Part One" in 2015. and "Mord Dur'agemski, Part Two", in 2016.
In 2018. Baran published his first philosophical novel, titled "Samuel Gide." "Samuel Gide" was in the semi-finals of the "VBZ competition for the best unpublished novel for the year 2017."
The works "Mord Dur'agemski, Part On"e and "Mord Dur'agemski", "Part Two" were published in print in 2019. That same year, Baran served as an editor of the book "Second Derivative (Druga derivacija)" by Croatian author Kristijan Mirić.
In 2021, Baran published "Darkness of Hil'gum" ("Tame Hil'guma"), book three of "The Black Books Cycle", and his second philosophical novel "Monsieur August". That same year, he was a subject of the documentary film "Good Spirits of Vukovar (Dobri duhovi Vukovara", 2021).
His seventh book, a philosophical novel "The Great Fall (Veliki pad)" was published in 2024.
Media appearances
In Croatian media, Baran has appeared on major Croatian television networks HRT and NovaTV, as well as local Croatian televisions , , Z1 Televizija, Jabuka TV and . In print, he gave interviews to major Croatian newspapers "24sata", "Jutarnji list" and "Večernji list", as well as weekly newspaper . He also appeared in newspapers "Glas Slavonije", and gave interviews to Croatian Radio, as well as local radio stations like , Radio Borovo, and Croatian Catholic Radio, among others.
Literary influence.
Among fantasy authors, Baran cited Tolkien, Pullman, Abercrombie, Pratchett, Kay, Williams, Pyle and Paolini as some of his influences. However, he noted that he stopped reading fantasy with the publication of "Enzolart", after which he mostly read classics and philosophical books.
Among the authors of classics, he cited Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Proust and Krleža as his influences, as well as Gide, Beckett and Hesse. Among philosophers who influenced his works, he cited Camus, Nietzsche and Schopenhauer.
Critical reception
In short review of his book "Samuel Gide" for literary magazine "Časopis Kvaka", book critic Klara Capan wrote: "I had the impression that I was reading a classic, and I defined the atmosphere as being closest to reading a book by Oscar Wilde or Süskind's "Perfume"." Writing a review of "Samuel Gide" for "Centar Kulture", author and book critic Ivan Žganec wrote:
In a review of "The Black Books Cycle" for the news website "Press032", book critic and professor Marija Lozančić-Keser offered a nuanced assessment of the series. Regarding "Enzolart", she wrote:
Reviewing "Mord Dur'agemski," she stated:
"The Black Books Cycle" as a whole Lozančić-Keser described as "intense", adding:
In 2019, an excerpt from "Samuel Gide" was published in the "14. vukovarski zbornik Matice Hrvatske" anthology, published by Matica Hrvatska.
Multimedia.
In 2025, following the publication of the second edition of his book "Enzolart," Baran released a short film of the same name. "Enzolart" is a 37-minute-long animated film with narration from the book "Enzolart". It's first two screenings were held in Vukovar and Velika Mlaka.
That same year, in collaboration with Croatian video game producer Digital Gods, Baran announced a developement of the ARPG video game "Enzolart." Early gameplay footage of the video game was screened together with a film "Enzolart."
Private life.
Baran lives alone, in Vukovar. He stated that he writes for about 6 hours a day.
He is a cosmopolitan and humanist. In some of his interviews, he said to have never tried cigarettes or alcohol, but he does drink coffee. He is an autodidact.