Vitan Mal

Vitan Mal (; born 25 October 1946) is a Slovene writer.

Life

Vitan Mal was born on 25 October 1946 in the Rožna Dolina neighborhood of Ljubljana. After graduating from secondary school, he studied Slavic studies and librarianship at the University of Ljubljana's Faculty of Education. He has worked as a camera operator, a journalist, and an editor for the children and young people's program at Slovene national public broadcasting organization, Radiotelevizija Slovenija.

Literary production Mal established his reputation with picture books, primarily storybooks for young people. These mostly include novels about the problems faced by young people growing up today. Among younger children, his series of crime stories for children about agent Žardna. Some of his books have been translated from Slovene into other languages. For his youngest readers he wrote for various Slovene children's magazines including Ciciban, Kurirček, Pionirski list, Trobentica, and Zmajček. The print run of all of Mal's books exceeds 300,000 copies and, as part of the Slovene Bralna značka ('reading badge') reading program, he has appeared at nearly 500 schools and libraries.

Mal is generally considered the first Slovene write of juvenile literature that wrote, as he put it, "about apparently banal things such as having to pee, throwing up, and masturbation." Slovene juvenile literature experienced a rebirth in the 1980s in part due to Mal's contributions and distanced itself from a moralizing approach to upbringing. Young readers were attracted to his portrayal of young people as they really are, with all of their good and bad qualities.

His works for adults—Ganimed in drugi (Ganymede and Others), Za metuljem še Rok, and Nedokončana zgodba (An Unfinished Story)—were intended for a small circle of readers because they explore homoeroticism.

Film and television

Mall worked as a professional camera operator and journalist for Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTV), He was charged with possession of child pornography in 2013, and in 2014 he was found guilty and received a 2-year suspended sentence with a 5-year probation period.

Works for children

Ime mi je Tomaž (My Name is Thomas), 1972 Teci, teci kuža moj (Run, Run, My Dog), 1975 Roki Rok, 1976 Mali veliki junak (The Little Big Hero), 1976 Vanda (Wanda), 1982 Sreča na vrvici (Happiness on a Leash), 1984 Baronov mlajši brat (Baron's Little Brother), 1985 Poletje v školjki (Summer in a Shell), 1986 Školjka svetega Sebastijana (St. Sebastian's Shell), 1990 Ledosned, 2006 Na ranču veranda, 1993 Hitro hitreje (Fast Faster), 1994 Nedelje nekega poletja, 1996 Ta grajski, 1998 Dvojni agent Žardna (Double Agent Žardna), 1999 Žigana (Ziggyanna), 2003 Žardna in hiša duhov (Žardna and the Haunted House), 2003 Žardna in ukradeni angel (Žardna and the Stolen Angel), 2005 Žardna in Četrtek (Žardna and Thursday), 2006

Works for adults

Za metuljem še Rok, 1976 Ganimed in drugi (Ganymede and Others), 1993 Nedokončana zgodba (An Unfinished Story), 1999 Napačna odločitev (A Wrong Decision), 2009