The Iranian-Dutch writer Kader Abdolah and the multi-award-winning author Nada Gašić are guests of honour at the 32nd Book Fair(y) in Istria, which will bring together numerous domestic and international authors around the central theme La vita è bella. The Pula festival of books and authors will feature appearances by Kim de l’Horizon, Nancy Huston, Rosa Montero, and Gian Marco Griffi, while highlights of the 4th Histrokozmos include the first Croatian edition of Crepax’s comic, a book by Ivona Olrić about Franci Blašković, “Oštarije Pule” by Franko Lukež, “Nova knjiga o Istri” edited by Boris D. Biletić, and “Smrt u Puli” by Darko Dukovski…

 

Writers, philosophers, theorists, publicists, visual and film artists, and numerous other guests of the 32nd Book Fair(y) in Istria, which will take place from November 27 to December 6 at the House of the Croatian Homeland War Veterans in Pula, will explore one of the oldest and deepest themes in the history of human thought, which harbours a fundamental philosophical question: Can the beauty of life be a matter of our personal choice and perspective, even when it is not an objective reality?

“La vita è bella inherently contains topics we have already explored. Life can never be beautiful without freedom, without disquiet, or without returning to the past and confronting ourselves. The topic of the fair will be addressed by the guests of honour of the 32nd Fair: the famous Dutch-Iranian writer and political dissident Kader Abdolah and the award-winning writer Nada Gašić. Kader Abdolah will present his autobiographical novel Prije nego što bude kasno, published by Buybook, which explores the tense political reality of contemporary Iran. This work, apart from addressing the topic La vita è bella, also touches upon the topics from past editions of the Fair – Intimacy, Return, and Freedom, and Abdolah will be the first guest of this year’s Breakfast with the Author. Nada Gašić returns with a new novel, Kutijica od školjki, published by Sandorf, in which she uses her signature style to highlight the Fair’s central topic La vita è bella. The first major discussion and exploration of the topic will take place at a round table discussion featuring prominent anthropologist and philosopher Svetlana Slapšak, philosopher and writer Predrag Finci, writer, essayist, and literary critic Zdravko Zima, and culturologist and anthropologist Aljoša Pužar. The topic La vita è bella permeates the regional program Ljubljana reads which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. The new format Stories We Tell is also part of this program, where writers Dušan Šarotar, Goran Vojnović, and Agata Tomažič will assume the roles of storytellers and share stories addressing the Fair’s central topic. To mark the jubilee anniversary, the prominent Slovenian culturologist Mitja Velikonja will visit the Fair for the first time and appear as a guest at the iconic Breakfast With the Author event. In contrast, Boris Domagoj Biletić, who has been with us at the Fair from the very beginning, will have his first Breakfast With the Author,” – announced Magdalena Vodopija, Director of the Book Fair(y) in Istria, at the press conference held on Thursday, October 22, at the Giardini 2 Club-Bookshop in Pula.

Different perspectives on what makes life beautiful or how can one make it beautiful in today’s challenging times marked by an uncertain future, are explored in the works that centering around the main topic. These include Predrag Finci’s book Putovanja duše (TIM Press), an introspective hybrid genre exploring inner conflicts and the quest for wholeness, Zdravko Zima’s collection of essays Ljepota je tako teška (Hrvatska sveučilišna naklada), which examines literature as a space of freedom, and Sinan Gudžević’s intimate prose work Sarajevosti (Buybook). In his work Roman o agoniji i vedrini (V.B.Z.), Srđan Valjarević portrays the current social climate through humour, while Ante Tomić, a favourite among audiences in Pula, explores events from 1717 in his satirical novel Kraljević Marko oslobađa Imotski (Hena com), poking fun at war and those in power. The grand finale will feature the presentation of Don Branko Sbutega (Kotor-Art), a collection of Branko Sbutega’s writings, edited by his brother Antun Sbutega, followed by a screening of Pavo Marinković’s short film Krava. 

“As part of the Intima program, Canadian-French writer Nancy Huston will speak openly about personal topics, presenting her book Francia (Naklada OceanMore), a story of survival, solidarity, and human vulnerability told from the perspective of a transgender woman. Swiss author Kim de l’Horizon will present their debut novel Knjiga krvi (Naklada OceanMore), a work for which they received both the prestigious German and Swiss literary awards, becoming the first non-binary person to receive these honours. These two works raise an important question regarding the freedom of not belonging in an era of division. Another theme to be discussed at the 32nd Fair is Disquiets: Spanish author Rosa Montero, in her work Opasno je biti pri sebi (Disput), explores the connection between madness and creativity, while Montenegrin-Bosnian writer Andrej Nikolaidis will present his latest novel Safari u Sarajevu (Hena com). The Storie italiane program will feature the presentation of a monumental work of contemporary Italian literature, Meksičke željeznice (Petrine knjige) by Gian Marco Griffi, though the books by Croatian authors are no less important. These include Ana Bradić’s prose debut Jezero (Naklada OceanMore), the crime novel Atentator (Stilus) by Jurica Pavičić, and two poetry collections Međugorje (Fraktura) by Ivica Đikić and Crveni zec (v.b.z.) by Drago Glamuzina. In addition, philosopher Žarko Paić will present two theoretical works, Vanja Stulić: otvorenost povijesnoga mišljenja i njegove granice (Multimedijalni institut) and The Technoscientific Turn of Philosophy (Palgrave Macmillan). Among this year’s guests will also be Srđan Dragojević, the author behind some of the greatest achievements in Serbian cinema, who will be attending the Fair for the first time and present his book Crveni (Profil).” – said Vodopija. 

According to the Fair’s main producer Slavica Ćurković, film once again holds an important place at this year’s Fair, connecting three programme sections: Slavic Garden, Hop Reading and PULiculAr Reform. “Through Hop Reading we introduce children to literature and art in general through conversations with younger authors, iillustrators, comic book artists, and other artists. This time, we are focusing on animation and bringing together artists from the Croatian animation scene. We will present Veljko Popović’s film Žarko, You Will Spoil the Child, the first student film by Pula-based filmmaker Neomi Ribić Grow Up to Be a Little Tree, Petra Zlonoga’s short experimental film Dota, the animated film Imbued Life by Ivana and Thomas Vold, and to this year’s Hop reading programme, Stribor’s Forest by Ana Despot. As part of PULiculAr Reform, established authors will engage in conversation with highschool students about Croatian, regional, and world classics – focusing on works included in school reading lists – but from an unconventional perspective. This year’s PULiculAr Reform, entitled Književnost koja se gleda, explores the relationship between prose and film, to be more precise, on film adaptations of Croatian and world literature, most of which are also part of the school curriculum. The art of adaptation as a specific technique of transforming a literary work into a screenplay will be discussed by critics, screenwriters and writers: Boris Rašeta on The Cyclops, Ana Brnardić on A Clockwork Orange, Andrej Nikolaidis on The Odyssey, Srđan Valjarević on The Stranger, and Jurica Pavičić on Hamlet. 

Film and literature will also come together in the programme Slavic Garden in Three Frames, which features an intimate and incisive correspondence between two prominent film directors and longtime friends, Rajko Grlić and Goran Marković, published in the book Jesi li snimio ovo (Telegram), as well as Goran Marković’s new novel, Hamlet u Paviljonu br. 6 (Laguna). Ivana Peruško, until recently the editor-in-chief of Slavic Garden, will this time appear in the role of an author, presenting, for the first time, her book Na rubu prijevoda (Disput), that explores film adaptations of Russian classics, with a particular focus on The Master and Margarita. 

As part of the Ljubljana Reads program, the tradition of presenting visual arts continues with the cult program Gallery Night, which marked the beginning of the collaboration between Ljubljana and Pula ten years ago. This year, illustrator and painter Samira Kentrić will present her exhibition Pratim trendove at the Town Gallery Pula, while Dušan Šarotar will exhibit his photographs in the exhibition Zvjezdana karta at Makina gallery. In addition to the previously mentioned relatedness to this year’s main topic, Ljubljana Reads will also introduce the debut novelist Pia Prezelj, who will talk about her award-winning novel Teška voda (Hena com).

The interdisciplinary nature of the Fair is also reflected in Histrokozmos. The program Urban Culture Spaces Present will take place as part of Alternative Oases of Istria, alongside an exhibition of the Istarska fazinoteka, a collection of independent publications by around thirty collectives from Istria and beyond. Meanwhile, Brtonigla Toons & Tunes Presents will focus on music. Istarske priče o vinilu will introduce audiences to three small Istrian record labels, whose representatives will discuss vinyl culture and the recent revival of analogue formats and host morning DJ sets. The audience will also have the opportunity to dance at the Fair’s birthday celebration, featuring DJs from Groovoteka collective, which will take place at Cvajner Gallery.

“Histrokozmos has taken over the Fair this year, just as the Fair’s topic La vita è bella has permeated Histrokozmos. A special place is reserved for the first Croatian edition of Anthropology, a comic book by Italian author Guido Crepax, one of the most important European comic book artists of the twentieth century. While comic book devotees have previously read it in the Italian original, it will now be published as a co-edition by Castropola and Book Fair(y) in Istria Association, with the support of the Public institution Kamenjak, with Vjeran Juhas in charge of the graphic design. This is also the first title in the newly established publishing series Histrokozmos.  It is worth recalling that the Fair once had its own publishing series Kod Tomasa, making Anthropology a symbol of the return of publishing to the Pula Festival of Books and Authors. The topic is also powerfully reflected in the autobiographical book My American Dream (Ex Libris) by Lidia Mattichio Bastianich, an internationally renowned chef born in Pula,  as well as in Franci Blašković: Konstrukcija suvremenog istarskog identiteta (Hrvatska sveučilišna naklada/Povijesni i pomorski muzej Istre) by ethnologist and cultural anthropologist Ivona Orlić, in which the author presents a study of a legend of the Istrian alternative scene. The fourth Histrokozmos also brings numerous important books about Istria. In Smrt u Puli (Istarski ogranak DHK/ Čakavski sabor), historian Darko Dukovski explores suppressed chapters of Istrian history, while Teodora Fonović Cvijanović and Vanesa Vitković Marčeta trace the history of Istrian journalism in their book Od Naše sloge do Glasa Istre: Istarske novine kroz jezičnu prizmu (Hrvatska sveučilišna naklada). Nova knjiga o Istri (Čakavski sabor, Istarski ogranak DHK) is a continuation of Toni Peruško’s renowned book Knjiga o Istri, while Istra pješice i biciklom (Libricon), is the fifth book published by Lara Černicki and Stašo Forenbaher,  passionate explorers of nature and cultural and historical heritage. Considerable interest is also expected in Oštarije Pule (Hrvatska sveučilišna naklada) by Franko Lukež, a new title in the Lukežijana book series, as well as Krnica na pjatu - Kuharica none Albine (Josip Turčinović) by Klara Buršić-Marijašić,” emphasized Lara Manzin Grganja, the Fair’s chief executive producer.

The rich food and wine programme of Histrokozmos will once again be complemented by the traditional Wine Tales program, where six wineries from southern Istria will present their wines. Apart from the moderator Marko Percan, the winemakers and sommeliers from the Croatian Sommelier Club, the discussions will also feature wine storytellers, experts, and researchers of Istria who will share stories about wine. They include art historian Ivan Matejčić, academician and archeologist Robert Matijašić, historian Maurizio Levak, and ethnologist Noel Šuran. The Fair’s own wine, Post Scriptum, that was first introduced at the 15th edition of the Fair will also be presented. This year’s wine has been created in collaboration with Diković winery, with the label once again designed by artist Mauricio Ferlin.

The patrons of the 32nd Book Fair(y) in Istria are the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia, the City of Pula and the Istrian County. Its long-standing sponsors are Zagrebačka banka d.d. and Arena Hospitality Group. Further information is available on the official Book Fair(y) in Istria website and its social media channels (Facebook and Instagram).