17th Slovenian Days of the Book 2012

When planning the program of the 17th Book Festival, celebrated in Slovenia since 1996, we have endeavoured to achieve open, fresh, communication and confirmation of the book as the carrier of knowledge and feeling, says Evald Flisar, Slovenia’s best-selling author, 7 years President of Slovenian Writers Association, and at present the chief editor of Sodobnost, Slovenia’s foremost literary publication.

Evald Flisar tells us about the origins of the Days of the Book: As a newly elected president of writers association heard from the writer Boris Novak that in Barcelona, every year on St George Day, on 23 April, people on the streets give each other presents of books and roses, and publishers assist them with reduced prices. This led to the idea that Slovenes might easily do the same, possibly without the roses, which bloom later in Slovenia than in Spain.

The very next year, on 23 April, 1996, the first Slovenian Book Festival took place on the terrace between Cankarjev dom and New Ljubljana Bank, with 25 stalls, where Slovenian publishers offered books for sale at a reduced price. There was also a program of recitations, readings, music and of course introductory speeches.

The book festival was conceived from the beginning in such a way that it would take place in major cities of Slovenia, and is held now in Ljubljana, Koper, Trst, Novo mesto, Celje, Velenje, and Maribor.

In Ljubljana the Slovenian Days of the Book have been held first for three days and have been more recently extended to five days, Slovenia being the only country to do so.
from: Knjiga je živa, in Dnevnik, posebna priloga, 7.aprila 2012.

In 2012, the17th book festival was held from 16 to 20 April on Congress Square/Kongresni trg in the space encompassed by the Philharmonic Hall, University of Ljubljana and the Franciscan Church of Mary’s Ascension. It was launched by Slavko Pregl, Director of Slovenian Book Agency, Ivo Svetina, Slovenian Writers Association, Zoran Jankovič, the mayor of Ljubljana and DaniloTurk, President of the Republic of Slovenia.