From best novel of the year to poetry, essays, short stories, children’s books and best debut - have a look at a diverse and inspiring list of awarded Slovenian titles in 2021.

Kresnik Award (best novel of the year): Borut Kraševec – Agni (Agni (page 6 on the link), LUD Šerpa publishing house, rights contact: ludaserpa@gmail.com)

– “Written with literary skill, a broad view of the cultural landscape and a good ear for archetypal the novel relentlessly drills straight into the (unrecognized) nerve of the civilization.” – from the award justification

Kritiško sito (Slovene Literary Critics Association Award): Muanis Sinanović – Krhke karavane (Fragile Caravans poetry collection (page 9 on the link), LUD Literatura publishing house, rights contact: ludliteratura@yahoo.com)

• »The poems contain various toponyms and paint the imagery of the Balkans and Central Europe and the relationship between them in a hyper-globalized 21st-century world.« - from 10 Books from Slovenia

Book of the Year Award (5 finalists selected by jury, winner chosen by general public during the Slovenian Book Fair): Erica Johnson Debeljak – Devica, kraljica, vdova, prasica (Virgin, Wife, Widow, Whore, autofiction, Mladinska knjiga publishing house, rights contact: senja.pozar@mkz.si)

• “After her husband's death the author focused on the character of a widow throughout history. In a conversation at the Slovenian book fair 2021, she said that the widow is a well-known character, and she herself looked at the new role from the perspective of patriarchal society: if she was a wife before, she suddenly became a widow. The feeling was unusual, but in any case, the position of the widow seemed lower to her than the position of the wife. According to the writer, single women are at a disadvantage in a patriarchal society, whether they are a widow, a divorcee or a woman who does not marry.” – from Delo newspaper

Rožanc Award (best collection of essays): Robert Simonišek – Pejsaži – sanjati na soncu (Landscapes – Dreaming in the Sun, Družina publishing hose, rights contact: david.ahacic@druzina.si)

• »In our literary scene we rarely come across such essayistic texts that have weight, are authentic and linguistically skillfully written.« - from the award justification

Veronika Award (best poetry collection of the year): Tina Kozin - Nebo pod vodo (The Sky Underwater (page 5 on the link), Litera publishing house, rights contact: tajnistvo.litera@gmail.com)

• »A selection of poems about passing, (even) dying or (perhaps most accurately) a slow goodbye from the material, a journey through a kind of interspace between the here and there.« - from the foreword by Aljaž Krivec

Jenko Award (best poetry collection of the last two years): Nina Dragičević – To telo, pokončno (This Body, Upright, ŠKUC, rights contact: info@skuc.org) 

• »The author is well aware that the body is a field (also a battlefield) crossed by social conventions, agreements, dictations, repression; she knows that all this is written in it.« - from Sodobnost magazine

Novo mesto Short (best short story collection): Carlos Pascual – Nezakonita melanholija (Unlawful Melancholy, LUD Šerpa publishing house, rights contact: ludaserpa@gmail.com)

• “A few years ago, the Mexican writer Carlos Pascual, who lives in Slovenia, started publishing chronicles in Slovenian magazines, a kind of Latin American hybrid between literature and journalism. Until then, these were just real stories for him, with which he entertained his friends in Mexico. In Slovenia, his adventures quickly sounded excessive, almost fictional, even magically realistic. In short: a perfect fiction.” – from ARS program of the Slovenian national broadcaster

Best Debut Book of the Year: Natalija Milovanović – Samoumevno (Taken for Granted, CSK publishing house, rights contact: litcenter@mail.ljudmila.org)

• “Rarely do we find in poetic debuts such a sculpted and confident style of writing, which reveals the poetic maturity and art of playing with metaphors.” – from ARS program of the Slovenian national broadcaster

Zlatirepec award (best original comic book) went to:

• Jaka Vukotič in Žiga Gombač for Znamenitni: imenitne zgodbe znamenitih osebnosti v stripu (Znameniti: Great Stories of Celebrities, Rokus Klett publishing house) in the children's comic books category and to
• Gašper Krajnc for Mestne ptice (City Birds, VigeVageKnjige, rights contact: zala@vigevageknjige.org) in the comic books for adults category.

The Original Slovenian Book Award: Nataša Strlič (text), Damijan Stepančič (illus.) – Osamosvojitev (Independence, Miš publishing house, rights contact: anze@miszalozba.com)

• “A large illustrated book on the path of Slovenian independence is perfect for for those who still remember everything (too) well, and for those who are not familiar with the time and place at all. The book offers an objective and pictorial insight into the events, life and atmosphere in Slovenia between 1980 and 1992.” – from publisher’s description

Awarded children’s and YA books

White Ravens 2021 went to three Slovenian titles:

• Brane Mozetič (text) and Ana Lucija Šarić (illus.): Rožnate zgodbe (Pink stories. From the non-heteronormative history [for young people], ŠKUC publishing house, rights contact: brane.mozetic@guest.arnes.si)
• Damijan Šinigoj: Kjer veter spi (Where the Wind Sleeps, Miš publishing house, rights contact: anze@miszalozba.com)
• Various authors (text), various artists (illus.): Nepozabne. Ženske, ki so premikale meje našega sveta (Unforgotten. Women who have shifted the boundaries of our world, Mladinska knjiga publishing house, rights contact: senja.pozar@mkz.si)

Desetnica Award (best children’s or youth literary work by a member of Slovenian Writers’ Association): Damijan Šinigoj – Kjer veter spi (Where the Wind Sleeps, Miš publishing house, rights contact: anze@miszalozba.com)

• “What do we get when an experienced author, who is also an experienced caver, puts the events of his new youth novel in a cave? A tense, convincingly written adventure!” – from Bukla magazine

Večernica Award (best new literary work for young readers): Sebastijan Pregelj (text), Jure Engelsberger (illus.) – Vrnitev - Zgodbe s konca kamene dobe, 6. del (Return – Stories from the End of the Stone Age, part 6, Miš publishing house, rights contact: anze@miszalozba.com)

• “I wanted to write a series that would be tense enough to be interesting for boys, who like to read a little less, and on the other hand at least a little instructive. Because I also like to include lesser-known events from the past when writing for adults, I came up with the idea of writing a story about people who lived five thousand years ago, where we live now.” – from an interview with the author

The Golden Pear Award for best Slovenian nonfiction: Nataša Strlič (text), Damijan Stepančič (illus.) – Osamosvojitev (Independence, Miš publishing house, rights contact: anze@miszalozba.com)

The Golden Pear Award for best Slovenian fiction: Simona Semenič (text), Tanja Komadina (illus.): Skrivno društvo KRVZ (The Secret Society KRVZ, Mladinska knjiga publishing house, rights contact: senja.pozar@mkz.si)

“One evening, Črt sees a mysterious shadow in the sky through the window of his room. Is what he sees really a dragon? He wants to share this unusual experience with his friend Vid, but there is no opportunity at all, since Vid wants to share the news of the exciting discovery with him as well. A mysterious map came into the hands of his two new friends, and this fires the imagination of the children. They immediately find themselves in the midst of a thrilling adventure. A masterfully written story. The book is a true literary gem.” – from the award justifica