It's always good to get to know the country that you are visiting before you arrive (or, if you don't manage to do it before, on the plane, once you are there, or, even, after you have left...).
Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina more broadly are places that have both produced a lot of literature, films and music and had literature, films, and music produced about them.
This is natural given the rich histroy of the country and region. So, without talking more than we need to, here are some recommendations (in no particular order):
Reading
Bosnia & Herzegovina Bradt Travel Guide: Tim Clancy
Genre: travel guide
Synopsis: Possibly the most thoroughly researched travel guide available on Bosnia and Herzegovina
Goodreads rating: 4.26/5
First published: (4th edition) 2013
The Bridge on the Drina: Ivo Andrić
Genre: historical fiction
Synopsis: Ivo Andrić was awarded the Nobel Prize for this work which depicts the lives of serval generations of Bosnians from the 16th Century until World War I.
Goodreads rating: 4.33/5
First published: 1945
The Fall of Yugoslavia: Misha Glenny
Genre: History / Non-fiction
Synopsis: an in depth account of the war in former Yugoslavia written by an acclaimed journalist and historian. The more recent versions have an epilogue following the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Goodreads rating: 3.86/5
First published: 1992
Sarajevo Blues: Semezdin Mehmedinović
Genre: poetry / war / shorts / non-fiction
Synopsis: written by one of Bosnia's most well known writers, this book of shorts, poems, and "prose vignettes" tells the story of a city under seige and of resistance
Goodreads rating: 4.2/5
First published: 1992
Zlata’s Diary: Zlata Filipović
Genre: memoir / non-fiction
Synopsis: This work was compared to The Diary of Anne Frank when it was published. It charts the life of a typical girl of eleven years of age as war approaches and engulfs life
Goodreads rating: 3.74/5
First published: 1993
Safe Area Gorazde: Joe Sacco
Genre: graphic novel / non-fiction
Synopsis: This journalistic graphic novel focuses on the enclave of Gorazde, a largely Bosniak area which was beseiged by Bosnian Serbs during the war, and is based on the authors conversations with people living there and his own observations
Goodreads rating: 4.29/5
First published: 2000
& More Reading
The Question of Bruno: Aleksandar Hemon
Genre: fiction
Synopsis: Set in Chicago and Bosnia, this book talks on the desolation of war and about how someone makes a new life abroad in a new country
Goodreads rating: 3.97/5
First published: 2000
How The Soldier Repairs The Gramophone: Saša Stanišić
Genre: fiction
Synopsis: Tells the story of "the best magician in the non-aligned states and painter of unfinished things". Set in Višegrad in Bosnia as war creeps in and life changes in a way that cannot be undone
Goodreads rating: 3.96/5
First published: 2006
Sarajevo Marlboro: Miljenko Jergović
Genre: fiction / short stories
Synopsis: début collection of stories from an author who lived in Sarajevo for much of the war. The stories focus on daily dramas with the war in the background and sheds light on the lives of the city's Muslims, Croats, and Serbs
Goodreads rating: 4.13/5
First published: 1994
The Book of My Lives: Aleksandar Hemon
Genre: non-fiction
Synopsis: Aleksandar, in his first non-fiction work, talks about his life in Bosnia as a child, his adult life in Chicago, watching war break out from afar, and addresses tragic events
Goodreads rating: 4.15/5
First published: 2013
Goodbye Sarajevo: Atka Reid & Hana Schofield
Genre: non-fiction
Synopsis: Tells the story of Hana and Atka. A younger and older sister who are separated when Hana is put on a UN evacuation bus fleeing Sarajevo by Atka
Goodreads rating: 4.25/5
First published: 2011
Letters from Diaspora Stories of War and its Aftermath: Arnesa Buljusmic-Kustura
Genre: fiction
Synopsis: A series of 12 short stories that looks at how those who survived the war and genocide in the '90s cope today. It looks at PTSD, nostalgia for the lost, being an immigrant, and survivors guilt
Goodreads rating: 4.47/5
First published: 2016
Watching
Valter Brani Sarajevo
Genre: action / war / historical
Synopsis: An iconic film from Bosnia. There is even a museum dedicated to it in Sarajevo. The plot focusses on a plan formulated by Valter, a resistance leader, to foil the Germans in a Second World War context
Synopsis: A father who sends his wife and daughter away from Sarajevo to aviod the war ends up befriending two orphans who come to Sarajevo to escape a massacre in their home village and in search of a lost aunt
Synopsis: Shows the experiences of a UN peacekeeper in Bosnia who became a whistleblower, outing the UN for their covering up of a sex trafficking scandal
Synopsis: Follows a Roma family in one of Bosnia's towns and examines many of the prejudicesfaced by Bosnia's Roma minority. The film stars a real-life couple whose awful story became a national scandal
Synopsis: This film explores the story of a guy who returns from Germany with lots of money and dreams of a new life. It is set after the dissolution of Yugoslavia, but slightly before the Yugoslav wars
Synopsis: At the height of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, two opposing soldiers get trapped in no man's land, highlighting how the ridiculous the UN can be in the process
Sevdalinka is a type of folk music from Bosnia, born of many elements from Ottoman, Slavic, and other influences. The songs are often slow, emotional melodies. Here is an interactive music map focussed on Sevda.
This is a sub-genre from the western Balkans that is a fusion genre of folk music with other genres such as electronic. It's what you might here in some of the clubs and many of the songs focus on sex, materialism, and vice. Here is an interactive music map focussed on turbo-folk music.
Dubioza Kolektiv
As I didn't know where else to squeeze them, and as they are probably Bosnia's most well known group, they have their own section. Duboiza Kolektov "is a Bosnian avant-garde dub rock group known for their crossover style". Take a listen here:
& More Listening
Sarajevo school of pop rock
Rock is a genre that has been popular in Bosnia and Herzegovina since the mid 20th Century. Sarajevo school of pop rock refers to music created between 1960 and 1991 by musicians from Sarajevo. Here is an example from Plavi Orkestar:
In the 80s, a number of metal bands became relatively popular in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Here is an example from Monolit, a thrash metal band from Mostar:
