CITIES OF LITERATURE

Ljubljana, city of libraries

In Ljubljana, we love to borrow books, but buy them? Not so much. Part of the problem is that books are quite expensive. Ljubljana is home to 35 public libraries, including 142 specialised libraries, 2,628,810 books in the National and University Library of Slovenia. One in four residents of Ljubljana is a library member. And we have so many libraries that no matter where you live in the city, there’s a library within a walking distance.

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Ljubljana, city of festivals

Ljubljana is truly a vibrant cultural city, every month and throughout the year we have a various festivals, from the oldest jazz festivals in Europe, film festival to storytelling festival and international literature festival Fabula that brings the biggest literature celebrities to Ljubljana, and we get the translated books of all the festival guests.
Check out some yearly festivals from the literature field here.

 

Ljubljana school of psychoanalysis

Ljubljana school of psychoanalysis, also known as the Ljubljana Lacanian School is a popular name for a school of thought that developed around the Society for Theoretical Psychoanalysis based in Ljubljana, Slovenia.It gained international reputation for its original bringing together of psychoanalysis and philosophy, with many groundbreaking contributions to both fields, as well as to political thinking, thinking of art and analysis of popular culture. Among philosophers representative of the School are also the so-called “Troika”: Slavoj Žižek, Mladen Dolar and Alenka Zupančič.

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Ljubljana, city of translators

Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia, the whole country has 2 million people. Even though it’s a small language market, we have many, many great translators that translate from the original languages. Each year, around 30 percent of published books in Slovenia are translations.

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Ljubljana, city of illustrators

Slovenia will be a guest of honour at the most important book fair for children’s literature, Bologna Children’s Book Fair in 2024. There’s a lot of illustrators working in Ljubljana, many of them work with renown foreign publishers. Around 4,000 titles are published in Slovenia every year, 900 of which are children’s books. Such numbers place Slovenia among the world’s leaders in the number of books published per capita!

Books embellished with images by Slovenian illustrators have been published in countries and languages around the globe.
Center of Slovene Illustration is connecting, promoting and educating illustrators.

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Ljubljana, city of authors

Ljubljana has always been the central – indeed, the first – literary hub in Slovenia. From the first printers in the 16th century to the well-known 19th century classics, Ljubljana has been attracting increasingly diverse groups of authors, many of them writing in languages other than Slovene. For writers, the city with its highly developed literary infrastructure is an important place for various literary communities.

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Ljubljana, member of ICORN network

As part of the international network ICORN  that is giving shelter to writers and artists at risk, Ljubljana fulfills its commitment to being an open city that encourages international exchange. Ljubljana has been a member of the International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN) since 2011.

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Ljubljana, city of resistance

During World War II, the city was the center of an illegal literary resistance movement which saw graphic houses printing propaganda but also publishing literary works at this time of great unrest and distress.

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COLLABORATION WITH OTHER CITIES

 

Each year, Ljubljana hosts several international events that are organized together with international organizations and institutions. If you need any contact, do not hesitate to reach out to us.

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BOOK FAIRS

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Slovene Book Fair
Since 1972, the fair has, in 35 editions, brought together more than a hundred publishers, tens of thousands of visitors, international guests, local and foreign authors, and schools.

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Other book fairs

​Open-Air Book Fairs are organized in collaboration with publishers in different public places through the summer. Smaller specialized book fairs are also Liber.ac (academic book fair) and Tinta (comic book fair in October).

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BOOK FESTIVALS

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Vilenica International Literary Festival in Ljubljana

The Vilenica International Literary Festival is a traditional meeting of poets, novelists, drama and essay writers from Central Europe, organized since 1986.

 

​Fabula - Literature of the World festival is the biggest and most visited literary festival in Slovenia and the wider region. It has hosted many modern classics: Herta Müller, Irvine Welsh, Jonathan Franzen, Deborah Levy, Hanif Kureishi, Janice Galloway, Richard Flanagan, and many others.

 

The Tinta Comics Festival brings together diverse authors from the Slovenian comics scene with the intention of popularization of comics.

 

Literature Alive (Živa književnost). Small, but charming and cherished international festival blends literature and music.

 

The Ignor Festival connects literature, sound, visual arts and performance.

 

December Illustration Fair brings together illustrations of the most prominent Slovenian authors across generations and artistic styles.

Library Under the Treetops
Each summer we love to read, browse books and relax in the green urban spaces under the trees. Working with publishing houses, partners and  supporters, Library Under the Treetops has been offering free reading in many locations in Ljubljana and throughout the country for almost 20 years.

 

 

RESIDENCIES

 

Since 2018 the Ljubljana City of Literature office has been organizing the international residency program Writer in the Park, connecting writers from all Cities of Literature. The highly regarded residency offers peace and quiet for uninterrupted writing, yet it also offers the possibility to actively engage in the city’s literary life or explore the city and its surroundings.

 

Each year, the programme attracts up to 120 applicants, of which 2 are offered a one-month stay in Švicarija (‘Swisshouse’), a renovated historic landmark, in the centrally located Tivoli Park. Švicarija houses contemporary art exhibitions and several artists’ studios, offering each resident a remarkable experience in an artistic community. The Ljubljana City of Literature office prepares a tailored set of activities, based on each resident’s particular needs and interests.

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We publish the open call for the residencies at the end of every year on our website or Facebook page.

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