STA, 26 November 2019 - The annual Slovenian Book Fair (Slovenski knjižni sejem), opening on Tuesday, will this year focus on Europe, bringing to Ljubljana authors from all over the continent. It will also honour poet, writer and linguist Valentin Vodnik (1758-1818) and the region of Prekmurje, whose people were reunited with the rest of Slovenian nation 100 years ago.
Vodnik, a top representative of the Enlightenment Age in what were then Slovenian lands, works well with this year's focus, Europe, Enlightenment being "the foundation of modern European culture", the organisers have said.
Europe in Focus will bring to Ljubljana a number of Europe-based authors, among them the Irish writer Jacke Harte, German Sibylle Berg, Lukas Bärfuss, this year's winner of the Georg Büchner Prize and Jan Carson from Northern Ireland, the winner of EU prize for literature 2019.
Italian author and publisher Elisabetta Sgarbio will also be in Ljubljana, presenting her documentary set in Slovenia The Nearest Elsewhere (2017).
The fair will moreover focus on the country's eastern-most region of Prekmurje. The opening today will feature one of the best known Prekmurje natives, singer and songwriter Vlado Kreslin.
Moreover, at noon every day the Writers' Stage will feature an author from Prekmurje: Feri Lainšček, Štefan Kardoš, Vlado Žabot, Dušan Šarotar and Suzana Tratnik.
A study about reading habits among Slovenians will be presented at the fair, and a special programme dubbed Cicifest will feature works and events for children.
