24th Book Fair(y) in Istria Begins with a Nobel Prize Winner
Pula welcomes Wole Soyinka, Peter Sloterdijk, Goran Stefanovski, Mirko Ilić, Javier Cercas and hundreds of other participants, Croatian and foreign authors, promoters and publishers
On its regular dates in late November and early December, Pula is hosting a cultural event, acknowledged in Croatia and across Europe for its unique way of presenting literary content. During the 11 festival days, Book Fair(y) in Istria and its venue, the historical Defenders House, as well as other formal and informal points on the city map, will gather hundreds of participants, authors and promoters, publishers and booksellers, as well as thousands of visitors reading in Istria or coming to Istria because they read.
Books and cultural phenomena in general will be the topic at presentations and roundtables, authors will be invited for breakfast, sunsets will be welcomed in the company of books, attuned to the words of librarians and translators, awards will be presented, events Librić na Sajmu, Hop and Pop lektira will spark the appeal of books for future generations.
Book Fair(y) in Istria this year adheres to the red thread of Freedom as its focus. Significant per se, it will undoubtedly be specially coloured by the regional programme featuring Macedonian writers – Macedonia Reads, a small language literature whose power helped it overflow, like freedom, well beyond the borders of its homeland.
To the 24th Book Fair(y) in Istria we will be introduced by the first African winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, the pioneer of post-colonial literature and fighter for free society, Wole Soyinka, followed in the line of our freedom fighters by Peter Sloterdijk, the famous German writer and globally influential thinker.
Other great names include our own prides, Mirko Ilić, the New York-based illustrator and designer, and Goran Stefanovski, a playwright and filmmaker currently based in London.
This year we are hosting another Icelandic guest, poet and novelist Eiríkur Örn Norðdahl and his book Evil. Norwegian philosopher Lars Svendsen will speak about the philosophy of fear, evil and freedom, and Israeli philosopher Ishay Landa will explain the mysteries of mass society.
The event is also hosting the classic author of Italian graphic novel Vittorio Giardino, the young Macedonian literary celebrity Rumena Bužarovska, and the national freedom colours will be defended by Žarko Paić, Rajko Grlić, Ivana Dragičević, Danijel Žeželj, Sinan Gudžević, Darko Berljak and many others.
The books and the authors will be available at the Fair bookshop. This year we will be setting up a book salon with titles by over 200 Croatian and foreign publishers, displayed to resemble the classic, lavish bookshops of Buenos Aires.
From 29 November to 9 December over 70 events will take us down the mythical, literary and actual territories of freedom, from Jerusalem and Vis to Istria – Macedonia, Nigeria, Iceland, Germany, Italy, Austria, Norway, Israel, Spain, Slovenia, Croatia… Book Fair(y) in Istria will be closed by a great writer, another who we hope will go to Stockholm after Pula to pick up his Nobel Prize – Javier Cercas, considered by many of his readers the most important contemporary European author. We are hosting Mr. Cercas thanks to the support of Acción Cultural Española (AC/E) through the Programme for the Internationalisation of Spanish Culture (PICE), in the framework of the Mobility grants.
The Fair’s programme and focus will be complemented by the exhibitions Tolerance and Polish Poster: Body curated by Mirko Ilić, Freedom by Alem Ćurin, and Dick Skinners by Tadej Vaukman.
The 24th freedom-oriented Book Fair(y) in Istria is dedicated to the memory of Predrag Lucić, who connected our story with many world and who will this year be included in several festival events.
Pula, 9 October 2018
