Slovenian Literary Newsletter

Slovenian events at this year's Leipzig Book Fair (23-26 March 2017)

Featured Author: Suzana Tratnik with the novel entitled Bingo or Life!

This Young Adults/crossover novel by  Slovenian writer Suzana Tratnik (b. 1963), a multiple literary award winner, was recently released in Slovenian. The author will be present at the Leipzig Book Fair, introducing her novel (some years after her success with the German translation of the novel My Name is Damian) to audiences at the fairground and in the city. Find a sample translation in the link and an invitation to the novel presentation on Thursday March 23rd at 17.00.

Plot:
Mia, sixteen, is growing up in a small, dull town, with a mom who would do anything to force her into taking a job. Her father is absent, although he does occasionally appear and fill her head with empty promises and dreams of a better future. Through a period rife with disappointment - over school, choosing an occupation, parents, friend and boyfriends - Mia needs to realise on her own which path to choose for herself and who she can count on in life. Her search for answers, which ultimately leads to surprising discoveries, will also prove a great read for those who left their teenage years behind long ago.

Drago Jančar up for prestigious russian literary prize

Slovenian contemporary literary classic Drago Jančar, who is also well known to international readers, is among Julian Barnes and Jonathan Franzen one of the nominees for prestigious russian Yasnaya Polyana Foreign Fiction Award, which recognizes the most significant foreign book of the year written in the 21st century, and its Russian translation.

The nominated novel, published also in English under the title I Saw Her That Night (Dalkey Archive Press, 2016) is a love story in time of war, a novel about a few years in the life and mysterious disappearance of Veronika Zarnik, a young bourgeois woman from Ljubljana, sucked into the whirlwind of a turbulent period in history. The novel was also translated into Russian, German, French, Polish, Hungarian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Croatian and Serbian. I Saw Her That Night was also recognized in France and in 2014 awarded with Prix du Meilleur livre étranger (Best Foreign Book Prize, category Novel).

Book reviews on Slovenian titles in translation

Luka Novak, Le Métro. Inconscient urbain / Podzemna železnica kot urbano nezavedno, (Léo Scheer, Pariz, 2017, translated by Andrée Lück Gaye), Le Monde.

Goran Vojnović, Yugoslavia, mi tierra /Jugoslavija, moja dežela, (Libros del Asteroide, 2017, Barcelona, translated by Simona Škrabec), El Día de Córdoba.

Evald Flisar, If I Only Had Time / Opazovalec, (Attic Books, Bangalore (Indija), 2017, translated by David Limon), The Times of India.
               Three Loves, One Death / Ljubezni tri in ena smrt (Peter Owen, World Series, London, 2016, translated by David Limon), The Irish Times.

Jože Pirjevec, Tito. Die Biografie / Tito in tovariši (Verlag Antje Kunstmann, München, 2016, translated by Klaus Detlef Olof ), Die Welt. 

Aleš Šteger, Logbuch der Gegenwart / Na kraju zapisano, (Haymon Verlag, Innsbruck, 2016, translated by Matthias Göritz), Tiroler Tageszeitung. 

Slovenia wins National Geographic World Legacy Award

At the ITB Berlin 2017 tourism fair, Slovenia received the National Geographic World Legacy Award in the Destination Leadership category. The award was handed out to the Slovenian Tourist Board (STO).

This award is given to places that demonstrate environmental best practices, protection of cultural and natural heritage, benefits to local communities, and educating travelers.

National Geographic described Slovenia as one of the most sustainable countries in the world. It praised its forests, biotic diversity, well protected natural and cultural heritage, the Slovenia Green certification scheme and highlighted that it became in 2016 the world's first country to be declared a green destination.

Click here to watch the video.