Author Description

Dance of Shadows is a luminous tapestry of poetry that traverses the emotional, mythic, and cosmic landscapes of the human soul. In this hauntingly lyrical and deeply evocative collection, Ana S. Gad-pen name of Dr. Ana Stjelja-offers poems that resonate with both personal truth and collective memory. Her voice is delicate yet fierce, intimate yet transcendent, rooted in feminine wisdom and universal longing. Each poem is a fragment of light drawn from shadow-offering the reader portals into worlds where ancient myths meet contemporary realities, where silence births song, and where pain is transformed into lyrical insight. The collection gracefully blends spiritual musings, socio-political reflections, and meditations on womanhood, identity, and rebirth. From tributes to legendary figures such as Walt Whitman, Salvador Dalí, Dylan Thomas, Branko Miljkovic, and Scheherazade, to poignant meditations like Shackles, The Gallows, and Clay Jar, this book speaks across borders and centuries. Themes of trauma, freedom, motherhood, and transformation run through the work like a river. Gad's poetic language is rich with symbolism and musicality, drawing inspiration from the cosmos, nature, and cultural memory. Her words challenge, comfort, and inspire, reminding us of poetry's timeless role in bearing witness. Dance of Shadows is not merely a poetry collection-it is a spiritual journey, a political whisper, and a fierce hymn for the dreamers, the wounded, and those who choose to stay awake in a sleeping world.