Elis Lovric

Elis Lovrić is a singer, songwriter and actress best known for composing and singing in Labinjonska cakavica, the dialect of Labin, a town in eastern Istria, Croatia. Her soulful voice and dedication to singing in her native dialect has made her a celebrity both in Istria and greater Croatia, as well as internationally. Lovrić was born in Pula and grew up in Rabac, a city on Kvarner Bay, the body of water between the Istrian peninsula and the mainland Croatian littoral. Rabac forms part of the municipality of Labin, which has its own subdialect, Labinjonska cakavica, or more simply, Labinese. Lovrić grew up speaking this dialect—it wasn’t until she went to study in Rijeka, in the Croatian littoral, that she was exposed to standard Croatian. This exposure led her to a greater appreciation of her native dialect and an interest in writing and performing songs in her native dialect. With the release of the full-length album, Merika, in 2017, Lovrić became something of a household name in Istria. Ten of the 11 songs on the album are written and sung in Labinese, and one is in Portuguese. Merika is a contemporary album, and Lovrić’s Labinese songs are mostly ballads evoking her Istrian homeland.