English - Ljubljana

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Library under Trees
Photo: D. Wedam
The World’s Greenest Library
On days when the first rays of spring sunshine make you want to go out, but
temperatures are still low, Ljubljana offers you a very special experience. In
the shelter of a warm greenhouse situated in a beautiful park you can enjoy
reading or just leafing through books, magazines, and Slovenian and foreign
language newspapers borrowed from the Library under Trees, which uses
the Tivoli Park Greenhouse for its activities in the cold part of the year. In
May, the Library returns to its outdoor locations. This year, in celebration of
Ljubljana’s designation as the World Book Capital, it will operate through
as may as seven branch libraries, located in parks, gardens and other green
areas. Take time and visit the world’s greenest library!
Ljubljana Literary
Routes
If you visit Ljubljana after 3 May, the
day of the opening of the “Fabula 2010”
Fable Literary Festival, you will be able
to explore the city in a whole new way. A
literary map and a special tourist guide
book will guide you to countless places
of literary interest and allow you to trace
the footsteps of Slovenian authors who
lived and worked in Ljubljana.
Ljubljana – World Book Capital 2010
On 23 April at 12 noon, the World Book Capital flag will be hoisted by the Mayor of Ljubljana, Mr. Zoran
Janković, in front of the Town Hall to mark Ljubljana’s inauguration as UNESCO’s World Book Capital.
Spiral of Words, City Museum of Ljubljana, Photo: M. Paternoster
The inauguration ceremony
will mark the beginning of a
year during which Ljubljana will
host around 300 events aimed
to encourage reading, develop
a reading culture, increase the
accessibility of books, and
present various literary genres
and literatures of the world
to the public. The year-long
programme of events will be
divided into several strands,
some of which may also be of
interest to visitors.
A literary festival held in
May under the title Literatures
of the World: Fable 2010, will
bring together several world
famous authors. During their
visits, some of their works will
be published in Slovenian and
sceneries depicting each of
their respective home cities
will be set up on the Breg
embankment, along with the
festival’s information point and
a children’s play area.
An exhibition of
photographs by Borut Kranjc
entitled The Reader will be
on view on the banks of
the Ljubljanica river below
The Fable 2010 festival will feature the following prominent
authors:
• Herta Müller (Nobel Prize winner): 2-5 May 2010
• Richard Flanagan: 25-29 May 2010
• Jonathan Franzen: 7-10 May 2010
• David Grossman: 12-15 May 2010
• Michal Viewegh: 16-19 May 2010
• Daniel Kehlman: 20-23 May 2010
the Cankarjevo nabrežje
embankment For a detailed
programme of festival events,
visit the website at
www.festival-fabula.org.
Poetry readings by visiting
authors from China and a large
number of other events will
be held as part of a project
entitled The International
within the Local.
A programme strand
called Books and Creativity
in Culture will include various
events organized by Ljubljana’s
museums, galleries, theatres,
musicians and other artists.
Special attention will be paid
to three of Slovenia’s most
prominent authors: Boris Pahor,
Svetlana Makarovič and Slavoj
Žižek.
Literary events traditionally
held in Ljubljana and
inaugurations of book-themed
parks, memorial houses and
monuments will be held as part
of a programme strand entitled
Books and the City.
The end of May will see the
opening of the Trubar House of
Literature. The House, located
in the Ribji trg square, will be
named after Primož Trubar,
the author of the first book in
Slovenian and the founding
father of the Slovenian literary
language. From September on,
it will combine the functions
of a cultural and intellectual
centre, a book club, the home
of a new web portal dedicated
to books and literature, a
gallery, and an information
centre.
Seminary Library
Photo: Ljubljana Tourism
Archive
The end of April will see the
opening of the renovated Navje
park, originally designed by the
architect Jože Plečnik to serve
as the burial place of several
Slovenian authors. A new park,
designated for reading and
intended for all generations
of readers, will be opened
next to it. In Argentinski park,
a monument to Slovenian
Protestant authors and printers
will provisionally be unveiled in
late October.
A maze park dedicated
to the culture of reading will
be landscaped in the city’s
Fužine area and opened in
March 2011. The way through
the maze, made of 500 trees
planted on a 100 by 100-metre
area, will be marked by stone
plaques displaying verses by
internationally renowned poets.
A reading nook will be set up in
the centre of the maze.
Welcome to Ljubljana, the
World Book Capital 2010.
www.ljubljanaworldbookcapital.si
Meta Stvarnik