Vedrana Rudan's Son: Writing Was Everything to Her

Slaven Hrvatin, the son of writer Vedrana Rudan, has spoken publicly for the first time since his mother’s death, in an interview with the weekly NIN. He talked about her fight with illness, her last days and the book that is coming out soon.

The book is called Kao da me ima (roughly, “As If I Were Here”). It collects the best pieces Vedrana Rudan wrote over the past thirty years or so. The publisher and the exact release date have not been named.

Rudan died at 77 after a battle with cancer. The news of her death was published on August 18, 2026. Hrvatin rarely appears in the media, so this interview is the first time his voice has been heard.

How did the idea for Kao da me ima come about?

The book began in early 2026, when Hrvatin suggested to his mother that they put together a selection of her best texts. She had already been fighting the illness for two years. He says he is not sure whom the project was really meant for.

“It is still hard for me to judge whom I wanted to distract from the illness, myself or her.”

He kept the suggestion to himself for a long time. He gave the reason in the same interview:

“I hesitated because it seemed silly to mention a new project to my mother while she was going through chemotherapy.”

The conversation about the book did happen in the end, and Hrvatin described how:

“But she was bored with constantly answering questions about how she felt and which treatments she was on, so it slipped out in conversation: ‘I have an idea for a book…’ She accepted, I threw myself into the work and set myself the goal that I wanted her to see at least the first version of the book. I am glad I managed it and that she was happy with the selection,” Hrvatin told NIN.

What did writing mean to Vedrana Rudan?

Rudan wrote about her illness on her blog. Even in the hardest moments, writing meant a great deal to her.

“Writing was everything to my mother. When she fell ill and could no longer write at her desk, she wrote her texts on her phone,” Hrvatin told NIN. He went on to say what people like her are like: “You cannot motivate people like her to write, you can only prevent them from doing it.”

The advice a son did not follow

The conversation ended on more personal ground. Hrvatin said his mother gave him advice for years and that he did not listen.

“As a proper son, I ignored it. Had I followed it, I would be more like her: happier, more relaxed and with a few firings behind me.”

He picks out one piece of advice as the best, and adds that he might follow it someday:

“The best advice she gave me is to demand to be paid for everything I do, and if I am already being paid, to demand more. Maybe I will follow it one day,” Hrvatin says.