He worked as the lector of the official paper Narodne novine (1935–1940), taught at the Academy of Arts in Zagreb (1939–1945).

[citation needed] He joined the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts's Literary Institute, where he became the director in 1953[1] and served until his retirement in 1973.

His poem Balada o zaklanim ovcama ("Ballad of Slaughtered Sheep"), written in the 1930s, is one of the most powerful works of Croatian literature.

He was crowned by an olive wreath and so became poeta oliveatus at Croatia rediviva poetry manifestation in Selca on the island of Brač in 2001.

An award has been named after him and granted since 2008 by the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (HAZU) for the life achievement in poetry.