Fabula ‒ Literature of the World festival is the biggest and most visited literary festival in Slovenia and the wider region. Founded in 2003, it has hosted many modern classics: Herta Müller, Irvin Welsh, Jonathan Franz, Hanif Kureishi, David Grossman, Janice Galloway, Richard Flanagan, Taiye Selasi, Tatiana Tolstoy, Eric Vuillard, Rachel Cusk, Deborah Levy, Jokha Alharthi, Bernhard Schlink and many others. During the years, the festival’s concept has evolved and improved. Today, it is based on a well-thought out curator’s work that tries to pick five authors, who are already considered literary classics or who have made a significant mark on world literature in recent years with their work, while the festival programme Fabula Hub also pays attention to perspective, still establishing literary names.
The starting point of the festival's focus in 2022 is the issue of human vulnerability, which comes to the fore at a time when humanity is struggling with a global pandemic, ecological catastrophe, social upheavals and a sharpened political situation around the world, and on the other hand with questions arising questions on how we treat vulnerable groups in modern times, how small and fragile we really are, and how much vulnerability in human absence and social apathy we still allow ourselves. The festival slogan »Fragile power(less) world« will bring together internationally renowned authors who are currently considered the best in their countries, as well as on a global scale.
In addition to the literary part, the festival also has a theoretical focus, which each year questions a new relevant social topic. So far, Slavoj Žižek, Terry Eagleton, Chantal Mouffe, Eva Illouz, Jean-Claude Milner, Patrick Boucheron, Umberto Galimberti and others have been guests in the theoretical focus. Fabula Festival is also distinguished by an extremely varied accompanying program, which is intended for all generations of readers and brings everything from children's and youth programs (Young Fabula), interactive literary installations to public space (Fabula polis), collaborations with Slovenian publishers and bookstores (Fabula selection), genre intertwining between literature and theater and other art genres (Fabula outside literature), to projects establishing the festival as an incubator of new literary ideas and future literary trends (Fabula Hub), thus strengthening the space of the wider literary and social community.
The main five guests of the festival and the selected young literary name from the Fabula Hub program are also accompanied by fresh translations of books into Slovene. Usually, these are also the first ever translations of the authors into Slovene. In 2022, the festival will also start cooperation projects with other Slovenian publishing houses, while the important mission of the festival remains to acquaint Slovenian readers with relevant world literature, which has received wider recognition abroad but is still quite unknown to the general public in Slovenia.
All the books will be published in the festival collection by Beletrina Academic Press and will be up for sale, for 10 euros each, as the festival's desire remains the accessibility of the book program and the spread of reading culture in the general public.
Artistic director of the festival
aljaz.koprivnikar@beletrina.si
Executive producer of the festival
program director of Beletrina
Editors of the festival book collection
Aleš Šteger, Marko Hercog, Alma Čaušević, Špela Pavlič, Špelca Mrvar, Petra Kavčič, Sabina Tavčar, Branka Jeretina, Timea Campbell, Aleš Vesel, Marija Ravnikar Dovč, Luka Mancini, Iva Božič, Matic Razpet, Ema Knific, Sara Strajnar, Eva Mlinar, Taja Gorjan,Simon Intihar, Jure Cvet, Žan Cvet ...
Kreativna baza
Eva Mlinar
The festival is organised by Beletrina Academic Press,
Director Mitja Čander
The festival’s co-producer is Cankarjev dom.
The organiser holds the right to change the programme. If changes occur, they will appear on the festival’s website and social media accounts.