Vjekoslava Huljić

Vjekoslava Huljić (; born on 27 March 1963) is a Croatian lyricist, songwriter, novelist, and writer. Born in Duvno and raised in Split, Huljić emerged as a successful lyricist with several hits from the Croatian group Magazin. She is considered to be one of the most productive and successful Croatian writers and lyricists and is most widely known for her collaborations with her husband and musician Tonči Huljić.

Her literary work targets both young and old audiences. In the span of her career, Huljić has written more than 600 songs, many of which have become best-selling singles of the respective artists they were written for, primarily Magazin, Jelena Rozga, Doris Dragović, Jole, Minea, Petar Grašo and Danijela Martinović. Her latest works with Lorena, Domenica and Tonči Huljić & Madre Badessa Band, include her writing using loanwords of the Dalmatian language.

Biography Huljić was born as Vjekoslava Tolić in 1963 in Duvno to a mother Iva Tolić, from Kolo, and a father, Branko Tolić, a lawyer, from Imotski. In her adolescence, Huljić studied law at the University of Split. She chose law since there were no literary studies at the university at the time and her father urged her to stay in Split. She only worked for four years in law as a judge trainee before switching to a more literary direction with poem, novel and songwriting.

1986-onwards: Poem and novel writing She emerged as a writer in 1986 when she published her first collection of poems, titled Jutrooki. The fable Čampro Vjekoslava wrote features Ivan and Hana as the main characters; it was put on stage and performed in 1996 at the Split Puppet Theatre. She in turn, heard the fable from her own grandfather who used to tell her the story when she was a child.

During the stay at home measures taken during the COVID-19 pandemic on 28 May 2020, Huljić profesionally recited "Loneliness" bi Rainer Maria Rilke for the literature portal Librarijancija.

In 2022, Vjekoslava Huljić presented her fourteenth book titled La Petite Marie by publisher Večernji list. The book had its promotion at the Bogdan Ogrizović library in Zagreb, where journalist Dražen Klarić and novel editor Žarko Ivković, attended together with literary writer Julijana Matanović and film theorist Daniel Rafaelić. Excerpts from the book were read by Anja Šovagović Despot. The book, which takes place in Split and Paris, revolves around family life and the search for identity and roots. Upon its release, the book was described as the author's "most mature work yet". The event was attended by the Huljić family and Vjekoslava appeared dressed in a dark blue suit.

Creative process Describing her creative process, Huljić said in an interview "I was never attracted to camera lights. A writer creates in loneliness and silence, and the main role is his creation, not himself. I have always preferred to turn to my inner being and the lights of people which attract my attention". Discussing her songwriting process, Huljić has revealed that it usually starts with her husband composing a piece of music which elicits a certain type of emotion in her; she mostly uses paper to write songs while a computer she only uses to write books. At the beginning of their career, the duo was composing around 120 songs per year. Despite their widespread popularity in Croatia and the wider Balkan region, the two kept their lives private and far from the media.

Artistry and legacy Vjekoslava Huljić is considered to be among the ten most performed and most demanded Croatian authors. She was also dubbed the "favorite child author". The lyrics "žena, majka, kraljica" ("a woman, a mother, a queen") which are a part of the chorus became a catchphrase among the public on the Balkans, used to describe a powerful woman who can easily solve her life problems; the line is considered to be her most trademark lyric. The phrase gained widespread use among females who used it to support and empower each other. Other trademark lyrics she has written include "Bit' će bolje od ponedjeljka" ("It will be better from Monday onwards") from Danijela Martinović's "Život Stati Neće".

Literary works Jutrooki, poem collection (1986) Čampro, fable collection (2000) Maksove šumotvorine, novel (2002) Oči u oči s nebom, novel (2003) Lonac za čarolije, fabel collection (2007) Moj tata je lud za mnom, novel (2011) Gen anđela, novel (2011) Moja baka ima dečka, novel (2013) Moja sestra je mrak, novel (2015) Moji misle da ja lažem, novel (2016) Moje ljeto s Picassom, children novel (2018) Moj Titanic ne tone, novel (2019) La Petite Marie (2022) Upomoć! Mene je strah! (2024), 3-5 year-old children novel

Selected discography "Rano ranije", Magazin "Balkanska ulica", Magazin "Ljube se dobri, loši, zli", Magazin "Dva put san umra", Oliver Dragojević (1995) "Suze biserne", Magazin (1996) "Da je slađe zaspati", Danijela Martinović (1997) "Rano", Minea (1998) "Marija Magdalena", Doris Dragović (1999) "Zar je ljubav spala na to", Magazin featuring Tifa (2001) "Bižuterija", Jelena Rozga (2010) "Providenca", Tonči Huljić & Madre Badessa (2014) "Pismo-Glava", Jelena Rozga (2016) "Ne Pijem, Ne Pušim", Jelena Rozga (2017) "Ako te pitaju", Petar Grašo (2017) "Sveto Pismo", Jelena Rozga (2020) "Idi Ti", Jelena Rozga (2023) "Lavica", Jelena Rozga (2024) "Začarani krug", Jelena Rozga (2025) "Kao žena ženi", Magazin (2025)