Biographical data

Ivan Tomičević was born on 24th September 1960 (at two o’clock in the morning) in the small village of Remetinec, about 50 kilometers east of Zagreb, Croatia. Two years later, his family moved to the bigger village of Sveti Ivan Žabno, about 55 kilometers east of Zagreb. There, he finished the elementary school. He has always loved reading books and writing, so he was a member of the literary group of his school. After the elementary school, he went to Zagreb where he attended and finished the secondary Geodetic School. After that, he studied at the Faculty of Geodesy and he became a Geodesy engineer. He worked in the geodetic profession, but later on, he entered a  college again and he studied philosophy and information science - direction of librarianship. So, he became a philosopher and a librarian. For 23 years, he measured  land, calculated, coordinated and drew maps. Then, he decided to change profession and he began to work as a librarian. Today, he works  as the school librarian in the library of  the 12th High School  of  Zagreb, the capital city of Croatia. He writes for children and adults.  Most of his stories and poems are published in various magazines. He has also published a novel for kids. His works are included in the textbooks for the lower classes of the elementary school. Five of his comedies have been broadcasted on the national radio. He writes haikus. He also loves comics and he was the illustrator of some comics for Croatian kids magazines. 

Nancy Gkitersou was born in Larissa, Greece, more than half a century ago. She started teaching English from the age of 21, first in the private sector and then in public schools - with most of the years in the 16th Primary School of Larissa. She always liked to connect the lesson to what was happening outside the classroom, taking inspiration from World Days, social and environmental issues, her own interests such as reading, writing, translation, crafts, dance, her many trips to Greece and abroad - some of which were also linked to an offer of voluntary work. The contribution to her city was connected to her participation, as a member of the Board, in the local association "Hippocrates in Larissa". For the past few years, she has been having the pleasure of writing stories, paragraph by paragraph via computer, with Ivan Tomičević.

Nowadays, Nancy and Ivan are a couple in private life, but also a couple in writing stories for children. They met each other online through the Postcrossing platform, where people from all over the world exchange postcards. Nancy immediately responded to Ivan's invitation to write together, and a magical journey of wordplay began. It is a journey that will take young readers to various parts of the world and arouse their interest in topics related to the environment and its protection, the wealth of nature, creativity, friendship and dreams.

e-mail: nancy.ivan.55@gmail.com