Pragati Maidan Fairgrounds, 6-14 January 2018

European Union will be Guest of Honour at the forthcoming New Delhi World Book Fair. 17  member states will collaborate and present a joint European Programme, among them: Slovenia, Hungary, Poland, Denmark, Italy, Germany, Portugal, France, Sweden, Spain, Switzerland, Cyprus, Belgium, Austria, Czech Republic, Lithuania and Slovakia.

There are 6 Slovenian authors participating, and 4 Slovenian publishers are attending the fair. The programme and the activities are coordinated by the Slovenian Book Agency.

We will be happy to meet you at the Slovenian booth, part of the EU Pavilion. 

Programme with Slovenian authors:

Sunday, 7 January

7/1, 12:30-13:30, EU Pavilion

Panel: Cooperation opportunities between India and Slovenia.

Guests: Ivo Svetina and Evald Flisar, both authors and editors from Slovenia, Yuyutsu RD Sharma, poet and publisher from India, Renata Zamida, director of the Slovenian Book Agency. Moderated by Kartik Bajoria.

Financial support for translating and publishing books from Slovenia – including a presentation of on-going cooperation with Indian Publishers.

7/1, 14:30-16:00 at Children's Corner

Workshop for children (age: 5+) with Manica K. Musil
Wool, wood and chicks.

Garmenting wooden chickens, which appear in the story ("The Naughty Pigs"), with wool. There are 30 available for children to finish up. Choose a colour of your preference, play with architect and children's book author Manica K. Musil – and watch a movie about her naughty characters!

Manica K. Musil sews, glues, crochets and draws her picture books – more than 10 exist already, with characters as mosquitoes, elephants, cats, chickens ... Her books are not just beautiful, fascinating and attractive to the gaze and touch, they are also instructive and educational – without moralising.

7/1, 14:00 -17:00 at International Corner

Lazy Sunday of literatures event (panels and readings) with altogether 8 European authors, among them Slovenian Evald Flisar.

7/1 14:00-15:00, EU Pavilion

Presentation of a new arrival: Anthology of Slovenian Poetry entitled "The Dual of the Heart", just published by Sahitya Akademy in New Delhi. The book will be presented and inaugurated by the poet and co-editor of the book Koyamparambath Satchidanandan, the Slovenian editor and poet Ivo Svetina and the Slovenian poet Andrej Hočevar.

Ivo Svetina (born 1948) is an acclaimed Slovenian poet, playwright and translator. He has won numerous awards for his plays and poetry collections. In 2014 he was elected President of the Slovene Writers' Association and re-elected just recently.

Andrej Hočevar (born 1980) is a writer and editor. He has published six books of poetry and one collection of short prose. Hočevar has been a guest at many international literary festivals and is also editor at the Literary Publishing House LUD Literatura.

Monday, 8 January

8/1, 12:00 – 14:00 at International Corner

International Marketing for children's books and their authors. The Experience with foreign markets and rights sales.

Panel with Senja Požar (Slovenia), rights manager at Mladinska knjiga publishing house, Palle Schmidt (Denmark), an internationally renowned author and illustrator of children’s comics and Manica K. Musil (Slovenia), children’s book author with successful translations on the Asian markets. Moderated by Renata Zamida, director of the Slovenian Book Agency.

8/1, 10:30 – 13:00, New Delhi University

Literary event (panel and reading) at the University venue and respective language departments. Participating authors: David Foenkinos (France), Dorothea Nürnberg (Austria), Norman Ohler (Germany), Evald Flisar (Slovenia), José Luís Peixoto (Portugal).

Tuesday, 9 January

9/1, 16:30 – 17:30, EU Pavilion

Forest of ideas
How books get a live in urban space. A lecture by children's book author Manica K. Musil.

Manica K. Musil sews, glues, crochets and draws her picture books – more than 10 exist already, with characters as mosquitoes, elephants, cats, chickens ... Her books are not just beautiful, fascinating and attractive to the gaze and touch, they are also instructive and educational – without moralising.

»The lecture is about my work. As an architect, I visualise a variety of possible ways how my books, characters, objects or ideas can get alive in public space around us, thus not being limited in format of books«.

9/1, at 19:00, venue: ICCR (Indian Council for Cultural Relations, http://www.iccr.gov.in/), Azad Bhavan Road, Indra Prastha state IP, Indraprashta Marg, IP Estate, New Delhi

Read, feel and taste Slovenia. Literary event hosted by the Slovenian Embassy in New Delhy. Moderated by Christopher Daruwalla, presented authors: Ivo Svetina, Andrej Hočevar, Jasmin B. Frelih and Evald Flisar.

Followed by a reception with Slovenian wine.

Wednesday, 10 January

10/1, 16:00-17:00, EU Pavilion

Reading session with EUPL Prize winners

Participating authors:  Jasmin B. Frelih (Slovenia), Osvalds Zebris (Latvia), Kallia Papadaki (Greece), David Machado (Portugal).

Jasmin B. Frelih (born 1986 in Slovenia) published his first novel Na/pol ("In/Half") in 2013 to considerable media attention and critical acclaim. In addition to the European Literature Prize (EUPL) it received the best literary debut award at the annual Slovenian Book Fair and was shortlisted for the novel of the year and book of the year awards. His short story collection Ideoluzije ("Tiny Ideologies") was published by LUD Literatura in 2015. His short fiction, essays and translations of American authors appear in the leading Slovenian literary magazines. He also translates poetry from Slovenian into English.

Thursday, 11 January

11/1 15:00, at International corner

Presentation of the latest novel by author Evald Flisar, "Words Above the Clouds", published by Nirala (New Delhi). the book will be presented by the editor and Himalayan poet Yuyutsu RD Sharma, and the author, Evald Flisar. Followed by a book signing by the author.

About the novel: During a 12-hour flight from London to Singapore passengers endeavour in increasingly dramatic conversations.

About the author: Evald Flisar (1945, Slovenia) is an acclaimed novelist, playwright, essayist, editor, globe-trotter (travelled in 96 countries), underground train driver in Sydney, editor of (among other publications) an encyclopaedia of science and invention in London, author of short stories and radio plays for the BBC … Various works of his have been translated into 40 languages, among them Bengali, Hindi, Malay, Nepalese, Indonesian, Turkish, Greek, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, Dutch, Icelandic, Romanian, Russian, English, German, Italian, Spanish, etc. His stage plays are regularly performed all over the world. In January 2017 he spent three weeks touring India, lecturing at three renowned institutions (National School of Drama in New Delhi, Rabindranath Tagore University in Kolkata, Malayalam University in Kerala), attending productions of two of his plays in Bengali and promoting translations of three of his books in Kerala, Bangalore and Kolkata.

Friday, 12 January

12/1, 15:00-16:00, EU Pavilion

Mandalas: Secret Gardens of Enlightenment - A lecture by Dr. Zmago Šmitek

The monograph "Mandalas", basis for the lecture, explores the role, significance, structure, design, functionality and message of mandalas in different Asian cultures: Indian, Nepali, Chinese, Tibetan, Mongolian, Japanese, Thai, etc. This serves as an entry point for integral examinations of the concepts of space, time, architecture, art and aesthetics in general in Asian cultures. The author furthermore scrutinises similar symbols and concepts in European and other cultures. The text is one of the most comprehensive studies of mandalas to date and includes over 300 photos and diagrams.

Dr. Zmago Šmitek (1949) is a professor at the Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana. A member of several national and international associations and journal advisory boards, Šmitek is an internationally renowned expert in his field and has received numerous awards for his work. His main interests are anthropology of religion, comparative mythology and Asian cultures.

12/1, 11:30 -12:30, EU Pavilion

Reading session with EUPL Prize Winners

Participating authors: Kallia Papadaki (Greece), David Machado (Portugal), Osvalds Zebris (Latvia), Jasmin B. Frelih (Slovenia) and Selja Ahava (Finnland)

Jasmin B. Frelih (born 1986 in Slovenia) published his first novel Na/pol ("In/Half") in 2013 to considerable media attention and critical acclaim. In addition to the European Literature Prize (EUPL) it received the best literary debut award at the annual Slovenian Book Fair and was shortlisted for the novel of the year and book of the year awards. His short story collection Ideoluzije ("Tiny Ideologies") was published by LUD Literatura in 2015. His short fiction, essays and translations of American authors appear in the leading Slovenian literary magazines. He also translates poetry from Slovenian into English.

12/1, 16:00-17:00, at International Corner

Panel on promoting European literatures in India. From obstacles to success stories.

Collaborative projects and live events with authors, theatre, digital and cross-artform projects with a literary core. Participating guests: Alexandra Büchler (Literature Across Frontiers, UK), Sadaf Raza (Pro Helvetia, Switzerland), Ivo Svetina (Slovene Writer’s Association, Slovenia). Moderator: Vinutha Mallya, journalist and publishing consultant.

Saturday, 13 January

13/1, 15:00-16:00, EU Pavilion 

Panel discussion: The Planet that doesn't Grow. Participating authors: Dr. Zmago Šmitek (Slovenia), JL Morin (Cyprus), Selja Ahava (Finnland), Dr. Ashish Chaturvedi (India).

13/1, 16:00-17:00, EU Pavilion

THE HOLY ECO-COWS: Thoughts on Environment and Philosophy of Nature

Lecture by Ethnologist Dr. Zmago Šmitek on mythology and ecology

Dr. Zmago Šmitek (1949) is a professor at the Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana. A member of several national and international associations and journal advisory boards, Šmitek is an internationally renowned expert in his field and has received numerous awards for his work. His main interests are anthropology of religion, comparative mythology and Asian cultures.

****

Movie to be screened at International Corner:

H2O (author Maja Bahar, produced by TV Slovenia, 2016), Documentary on water (English subtitles), 50  min