Slovenian literature will be in the spotlight at the Leipzig Book Fair, the oldest book fair in Europe, which will be open between 21 and 25 March, fair director Oliver Zille told the press in Ljubljana on Tuesday.
Representing the country will be publisher Studentska zalozba, which won the competition to represent Slovenia at the fair for the next three years, said Barbara Kozelj of the Culture Ministry.
The ministry wants Slovenia to have a more comprehensive presentation which would bring contacts with foreign publishers. The Slovenian book stall at this year's fair will be opened on 22 March by Culture Minister Vasko Simoniti.
According to the programme director of the Slovenian stall, Ales Steger, the number of authors that will be presented at the fair proves that German and Slovenian literature have already established good ties.
The organisers decided to host Slovenian authors whose books have already been translated in German: Florijan Lipus, Drago Jancar, Brina Svit, Suzana Tratnik, Uros Zupan, Tomaz Salamun, Mojca Kumerdej, Ales Car and Ales Steger.
The authors will also participate in reading sessions, discussions and round tables, such as "Germans and Slavs: Language Delicacies" and "What is Happening With Central Europe?".
According to Steger, Slovenian literature needs a more united presentation, with emphasis on its peculiarities and relatively big number of quality authors.
The best-known Slovenian authors in Germany are Drago Jancar and Slavoj Zizek, who will participate at the Slovenian literature evening together with Mladen Dolar and German philosopher Peter Sloder.
The fair was presented to the press by Zille, who pointed out that last year's show featured 2,162 publishers from more than 30 countries.
This year's fair will showcase about 30,000 newly-released works in the German language and a significant number of issues in minor European languages, primarily fiction, humanism, comic books, audio books and art monographs.
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