The novel Muri¨a continues the story of Feri Lain¨?ek's work "Lo?il bom peno od valov (I Will Divide the Foam from the Waves), published in 2003 and reprinted many times. Muri¨a, the second part of Lain¨?ek's trilogy about the Mura River, deals with the period immediately before the outbreak of the Second World War. Julian Spransky, the main character, is a young engineer engaged in the construction of a bridge across the Mura River at Petanjci that will later be destroyed by the Yugoslav Army during their retreat from German units. The constant presence in this novel is once again the fateful river that Lain¨?ek depicts this time with a different, fuller, and multilayered face. Thus the Mura, even after being used countless times, remains a rich and crucial symbol of the entire region. At the foreground of the novel is the story of love and longing between Julian and Zinaida Koslov that turns out to be impossible because the lovers are brother and sister. Muri¨a is a significant literary work that combines watershed historical events with a heartbreaking love story. It ends not with hope, but with a terrible sense of guilt.Muri¨a was published in 2006 in the Beletrina Collection of ¦tudenska zalo¸ba, and won the Kresnik Award for the best Slovenian novel in 2007 (www.litteraeslovenicae.si)

Writer, poet, and playwright Feri Lain¨?ek was born in Dolenci na Gori?kem in 1959. He studied journalism and now lives and works in Murska Sobota. He is a versatile author and explores different literary genres: prose, poetry, theatre plays, as well as puppet plays and radio plays. His first poetry publication entitled "Kot slutnja radovedno (Like a premonition, curious, 1981) was co-authored by the poets Milan Vinceti? and Valerija Pergar; this was followed by several collections of his own poems. Nevertheless, literary audiences are more acquainted with his novels and their stories, which stem from the Prekmurje environments. In addition to editing several collection of short stories (some as contributor), he has published numerous novels. Among the most acclaimed are "Peronarji (Platform People; 1982), "Raza (Crack; 1986 and 2004), "Namesto koga ro¸a cveti (Instead of Whom does the Flower Bloom, 1991), "Ki jo je megla prinesla (The Woman Carried in by the Fog, 1993), "Astralni niz (Astral Series, 1993), "Petelinji zajtrk (The Rooster's Breakfast, 1999), "Lo?il bom peno od valov (I Will Divide the Foam from the Waves; 2003), "Poema o ljubezni (A Love Poem, 2003), Muri¨a (2006) and "Orkester za poljube (An Orchestra for Kisses, 2013). With Du¨an ¦arotar as co-athor, Lain¨?ek published "Ob?utek za veter (A Sense for Wind; 2005) with the Franc-Franc Publishing. He also writes plays and books for children and young adults. His most renowned plays are "Samorastne¸i (Self-Growing People, 1986), "Impresarij (Impressario, 1990) and "Penzion Evropa (The Europa Pension, 1995), which was also produced as a radio play.His works have been translated into Hungarian, English, German, Croatian, Czech, Spanish, and Catalan. He also collaborates with numerous Slovenian authors and groups. In 1995, Lain¨?ek received the Pre¨eren Fund Prize for "Ki jo je megla prinesla and in 2006 the Kresnik Award for Best Slovenian Novel for "Namesto koga ro¸a cveti and Muri¨a. He also received the Ve?ernica Award for the Best Slovenian youth literary work for Mislice (Little Thoughts), a collection of fairy tales, the Kajuh Award for "Raza, the Vladimir Slejko Fund Award for "Astralni niz and the first award of Centre for Drama Art in Zagreb for his film script "?rni klovn (The Black Clown).