French, b. 1976 Born in Croatia and currently based in France, Miroslav Sekulic-Struja is a powerful voice in contemporary graphic literature, known for his visceral and empathetic portrayals of those living on the fringes of society. Raised in an orphanage amidst poverty, Sekulic turned to drawing at the age of four, finding solace in a pen and paper. His artistic DNA is a complex tapestry woven from the surrealism of De Chirico, Magritte, and Dalí, the emotional intensity of Munch and Van Gogh, and the dark folkloric depths of the Brothers Grimm. Sekulic’s path to the Zagreb School of Animated Films was interrupted by mandatory military service, a harrowing period that claimed the sanity and lives of many of his peers. During his enlistment, he maintained his humanity by acting as a "visual scribe," painting and embellishing love letters for his fellow soldiers. This lived experience of trauma and survival serves as the foundation for his storytelling; he writes not as an observer, but as a member of Croatia’s "lost generation," chronicling the underrepresented struggles of impoverished youth and despondent veterans. His mastery of narrative execution was first recognized internationally when he received the "Young Talent" prize at the Angoulême International Comics Festival. His acclaimed graphic novels, Pelote dans la fumée and Petar & Liza, have been hailed for their "dirty realism" and hauntingly beautiful painted textures. By blending the grittiness of everyday survival with a dreamlike, almost fable-specific aesthetic, Sekulic-Struja transforms the stories of the forgotten into epic, universal meditations on the human spirit.