Slovenia, the Guest of Honour at the 2023 Frankfurter Buchmesse, presents the country and its diverse literary landscape
Today the Handover Ceremony where Spain, Guest of Honour 2022, handed over the GuestScroll to Slovenia, Guest of Honour 2023 of Frankfurter Buchmesse took place at the book fair in Frankfurt.
A press conference to introduce Slovenia as the Guest of Honour 2023 took place this week. Under the title, ‘Honeycomb of Words’, the concept and the contents of the programme were presented – all of which focus on the cultural and literary diversity of Slovenia.
The Director of the Frankfurter Buchmesse Juergen Boos, and the curators, Dr. Miha Kovač and Matthias Göritz, spoke about the Guest of Honour’s appearance at the fair and highlighted its special features.
Juergen Boos said: "Slovenia, as Guest of Honour at the Frankfurter Buchmesse in 2023, will fill the honeycomb of words with outstanding authors, and stories that need to be translated and told. Authors such as Drago Jančar, Aleš Šteger and Ana Schnabl are great representatives of their country’s literature, and are already guests at the book fair this year. We look forward to new literary discoveries from Slovenia – the first Guest of Honour in the history of the book fair from south-east Europe. And something else is special and will characterise their appearance – Slovenia’s lively poetry scene, which is not only particularly exciting in respect to the country’s history, but which also deals with the discourses of our time in a highly topical manner.’
The curator, Miha Kovač, explained the focus of the Guest of Honour’s appearance, ‘In dialogue with colleagues from Germany and across Europe, Slovenian authors from all literary genres will present the topics of their books in the coming year and reflect on European and global problems, as well as multilingualism and identity politics. At the Frankfurter Buchmesse 2022, in a series of round tables, lectures and panels, Slovenian publishers and publishers from other small book markets will discuss how literary brands can be created in the world’s smaller book cultures, and what steps their authors need to take to become internationally successful.’
Literary guests also had their say – the journalist, Katja Gasser, spoke with the authors, Nataša Kramberger, Ana Marwan, Erwin Koestler and Peter Svetina about old and new literary projects.
Slovenia’s cultural scene is traditionally multilingual due to the relatively small number of Slovene speakers, and due to its geography, which places it at the crossroads of numerous cultures. This gave rise to the concept, Honeycomb of Words. For just as bees, according to their size, venture far to return home with just a drop of nectar or a grain of pollen, so various foreign influences have had an impact on the Slovenian language and the country’s culture. Consequently, authors writing in Slovenian have formed a multifaceted and yet independent, dynamic and original world. The result is a culture that reflects European diversity while remaining distinct and original; a culture that recognizes that it owes its existence and development to the connections it has with the honeycomb of humanity.
About the Guest of Honour
Slovenia is the Guest of Honour at the Frankfurter Buchmesse in 2023. The organiser of the Guest of Honour’s appearance is the Slovenian book agency, JAK. The Guest of Honour’s presentation is financed by the Republic of Slovenia and the European Regional Development Fund. The Frankfurter Buchmesse, which will take place from October 18th to 22nd in 2023, is the world's largest trade fair for publishing. The guest country presents its literature and culture at the trade fair, in the city of Frankfurt and at many other locations in Germany. Slovenia's Guest of Honour appearance has the theme 'Honeycomb of Words'. More info here: sloveniafrankfurt2023.com
Press Contact
Annika Grützner, Sophie Radecker und Mathias Voigt can be contacted at:
Literaturtest
Alte Jakobstraße 87/88
10179 Berlin
Germany
Tel. +49 (0)30-531 40 70-27
Fax +49 (0)30-531 40 70-99
slowenien@literaturtest.de
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