Azra Kolakovic , rodjena 1. 1. 1977. u Bihacu, BiH. Muzikom se bavi od malih nogu, svira klavir i vec u djetinjstvu kao instrumentalista za vrijeme školovanja u Umjetnickoj školi ostvaruje brojne uspjehe i nagrade na takmicenjima širom tadašnje Jugoslavije. Rat u BiH prekida njene ambicije i snove da postane pijanista, te zbog nemogucnosti planiranog nastavka školovanja u Becu, klasicnu muziku zanemaruje potpuno i zamjenjuje je komercijalnom pop muzikom. Prvi put javno nastupa pod umjetnickim imenom Donna Ares 1997. godine na hrvatskom izboru za pjesmu Eurosonga i tako zapocinje veoma uspješnu muzicku karijeru istaknute i nagradjivane pjevacice, kompozitora i kantautorice, koju prekida saznanje o teškoj dijagnozi karcinoma s metastazama u poodmakloj fazi.
Iako kao kompozitor i tekstopisac piše pjesme i uspješno djeluje skoro dvadeset godina nije ni sanjala da ce jednog dana napisati knjigu, ali kako sama kaže da “život piše najbolje romane” svoje je spoznaje, iskustva i saznanja kroz tešku borbu za život pretvorila u svoju prvu knjigu Soba za nikoga u nadi da ce pomoci drugim ljudima da se suoce sa svojim strahovima i licnim borbama, ne samo s rakom i bolestima nego i ludim životnim tempom današnjice. Objavljivanjem statusa i fotografija putem društvene mreže Facebook zadobija ogromnu pažnju ljudi cijelog regiona, koje vec godinama uvezuje pjesmama, a sada to cini i objavama raznih teških bolnickih situacija, stresnih stanja oporavka nakon ciklusa teških kemoterapija do konacnog poboljšanja i tim putem ohrabruje mnoge oboljele od raka širom svijeta. Za vrijeme bolesti osnovala je i “Fondaciju Donna Ares” za pomoc osobama oboljelim od raka i drugih malignih bolesti putem koje želi da se u buducnosti maksimalno angažuje, u svrhu svakog i najmanjeg poboljšanja zdravstvenog
sistema. Održala je i veliki humanitarni koncert za oboljele od raka u Olimpijskoj dvorani Zetra u Sarajevu, cime se upisala u historiju muzike kao pjevacica koja se usudila nastupati izmedju dvije kemoterapije i uspjela je u tome.
Autorica trenutno živi i radi u Danskoj gdje nastavlja s muzickom karijerom i radom na humanitarnim akcijama nakon što je pobijedila bolest. Ova umjetnica postala je svojevrsni simbol hrabrosti u borbi s rakom na ovim prostorima.
About the Author
Azra Kolakovic, born January 1, 1977 in Bihac, Bosnia and Herzegovina. She has been engaged in music from an early age. She plays piano and as an instrumentalist, she achieves many successes and awards in competitions throughout the former Yugoslavia during her schooling in the School of Arts. The war in Bosnia and Herzegovina interrupts her ambitions and dreams of becoming a pianist, and due to the inability to pursue the planned continuation of education in Vienna, she completely ignores classical music and replaces it with the commercial pop music. She makes her first public appearance under the stage name Donna Ares in 1977 in the Croatian selection for Eurovision song and thus begins a very successful career of a prominent and award-winning singer, composer and songwriter, which is interrupted after she learns of the difficult diagnosis of cancer with metastases in an advanced stage.
Although she has written songs and successfully worked for almost twenty years as a composer and songwriter, she has never dreamed that one day she would write a book, but as she says “life writes the best novels”. Her cognition, experiences and knowledge that she gained during her difficult struggle for life were turned into her first book Room for Nobody for which she hopes will help other people to face their fears and personal struggles, not only with cancer and disease but also with the crazy pace of life nowadays.
By publishing statuses and photos via Facebook, she gains wide attention of people across the region, who have been connected through her songs for years, and now she does that by publishing different serious hospital situations, stressful stages of recovery after difficult chemotherapy cycles to the final recovery and in this way she encourages many people with cancer worldwide. While she was struggling with the disease, she founded the “Foundation Donna Ares” to help people suffering from cancer and other malignant diseases and through the foundation, in future, she wants to be maximally engaged, for the purpose of each tiny improvement of the health system. She held a big charity concert for cancer patients in the Zetra Olympic Hall in Sarajevo, which enrolled her in the history of music as a singer who performed between two cycles of chemotherapy. Donna Ares has become regional symbol of courage in the fight against cancer.The author currently lives and works in Denmark.
SOBA ZA NIKOGA 