Pre-Opening Events
At the Vilenica pre-opening events on 2 September, on the eve of
the official opening of the Vilenica Festival, we will have the
honour of hosting the world-famous Cuban writer Zoé Valdés (in
Ljubljana), German prose writer Ulrich Peltzer (in Maribor),
Chinese poet Yang Lian and writer Yo Yo, exiled to Great Britain
(in Gorizia, Italy), Vilenica laureate Goran Stefanovski and
Macedonian writer Kica Kolbe (at the Škrabec Homestead at
Hrovača), Iztok Geister and Peter Stamm (in Koper). The events are
organised in collaboration with the
Goethe Institute,
the Tuma
publishing house,
the Ex-Border Festival,
the newspaper Primorske
novice, the Cervantes Institute,
the Embassy of Spain, and the
Golden Boat Literary Society.
Official opening of the 23rd
Vilenica Festival and presentation of the CEI Fellowship
The opening of Vilenica will take place in the Hotel Club
atrium in Lipica. Welcome notes will be followed by the
announcement of the fellowship winner. The Central European
Initiative in collaboration with the Slovene Writers’ Association
will present the CEI Fellowship for Writers in Residence as part
of the Vilenica festival. The fellowship seeks to encourage
cross-border cooperation and promotion in the field of literature
for young writers from Albania, Belarus, BiH, Montenegro, Croatia,
Macedonia, Moldova, Serbia and Ukraine. The international jury
members: Jani Virk, Lucija Stupica, Patrizzia Vascotto,
Ludwig
Hartinger and Vanesa Matajc will consider the application forms
and select three shortlisted candidates who will be members of the
Vilenica festival, with the recipient of the fellowship being
announced at the opening ceremony.
Last year, the recipient of the
fellowship was Marianna Kiyanovska from Ukraine.
Literary readings
A staple of the Vilenica Festival are literary readings organised
in Karst villages and at other venues in Slovenia. As every year,
the best contribution to the Almanac will receive the Vilenica
Crystal Award, which will be presented at the Štanjel Literary
Matinée by an international jury consisting of festival guests.
The winner of the Crystal (the statuette is a work by Peter Abram,
a Karst artist) will again have an opportunity to participate in
the prestigious Cúirt Literary Festival in Ireland.
Literary readings at Vilenica 2008:
Wednesday, 3 Sept, 8 p.m.
Lipica, Valley of the Mother of God
Thursday, 4 Sept, 7 p.m.
Hruševje by Postojna, St Daniel’s Church
Thursday, 4 Sept, 7 p.m.
Lokev, St Michael’s Church
Friday, 5 Sept, 5 p.m.
Ljubljana, Jazz Club Gajo
Friday, 5 Sept, 8 p.m.
Ljubljana, Ljubljana Castle
Saturday, 6 Sept, 10.30 a.m.
Štanjel castle
Saturday, 6 Sept, 7 p.m.
Vilenica cave
The theoretical component
On the 40th
anniversary of a watershed treatise in literary theory, Death of
the Author by post-structuralist literary critic Roland Barthes,
the theoretical part of the 23rd
Vilenica programme raises the question of the author as a literary
and sociological category. This year's Vilenica key theme dictates
the festival's motto as well: "Who Is Writing?" Through both
content and (interrogative) form, the motto seeks to draw critical
attention to the person standing behind every literary text, the
only truly indispensable link in the book chain. The choice of
theme was motivated, first, by the need to reconsider some
questions of principle about the place of the author as writer of
literature – both in the narrow sense of literary theory and in
the broader social framework – and, secondly, by concern about the
author's position in contemporary cultural industry, which is
determined by the logic of capital, the increasingly cheap tastes
of the reading public, the levelling process of globalisation, and
the spread of contemporary media.
more...
The themes unfolding through these two clusters place the writer at
the intersection of theory and practice; of the symbolic dimension
and physical existence; of the rules of art and economic laws; of
the seclusion of literature and the disclosure of the media, or – in
the words of Marijan Dović's monograph on The Slovene Writer –
between the producer and the author. According to Dović, the gap
between the producer and author is not typical only of the present
situation, having evolved throughout the period of modern
literature, but it does appear particularly conspicuous today. It is
in our time that the author is "forced to consciously realise and
address the conflict between his own urge to produce works of
intellectual and aesthetic excellence, and the media tendency to
(re)produce mediocrity" (307), and to decide "whether to be a mere
entertainer /…/ serving a string of amusing adventures to a
work-exhausted multitude /…/, or to pursue his own artistic
ambitions unconditionally, regardless of the market and the
so-called popular culture, which may cost him an exorbitant price –
his work will not only go financially unrewarded /…/ but may be
deprived even of symbolic capital." Moreover, a contemporary author
who wants to survive on the market realises the importance of his
own role in promoting his work. "He /the contemporary producer of
literature/ sees that, in order to distribute his (literary) truth,
he will have to /…/ exploit a variety of means, pandering to
influential representatives of the media and politics and – if
necessary – presenting his ideas on the publisher's demand in the
most banal circumstances imaginable (for example to passers-by in a
shopping mall). He sees that access to the media does not depend
only on the quality of one's literary work but also on fostering
personal contacts with media representatives, on frequenting the
venues of authors, publishers, and the media (literary evenings,
poetry festivals, colloquia, readings, anniversaries, etc.), and on
generally maintaining active contacts with all agents in the
literary system." (307)
At this year's Vilenica, we will thus inquire: How does an author's
commitment to promotion in the broadest sense affect his work? How
do publishers' profit-oriented policies influence the quality of the
literary products? Can good promotion compensate for bad literature,
and vice versa? How did the authors' self-image and their image in
the eyes of the society change throughout history? Can one speak of
geographically, historically, politically conditioned differences in
the perception of the role and importance of the creators of
literature?
The theme of the author leads to the issues of copyright, fees, and
professionalisation of literary work. Although the fees meted out to
literary authors in Slovenia are shamefully low, it is seen as
inappropriate, undignified, and generally improper for writers to
discuss such practical aspects of their craft. "He /the author/ must
discuss his creative work in a specific, coded way: he must allude
to inspiration, creativity, rather than to production, fees,
royalties, and other banalities of the writer's inspiration." (308)
Although the romantic myth of the dreamy and penniless poet is long
obsolete, it continues to determine us and to define our perception
of the literary author, at least subconsciously. The absurdly low
fees for literary works are not problematic only in themselves,
making decent living an impossibility, but also as reflections of
the relationships prevailing in our society and as indices of the
general social climate. For all its lip service paid to the
indisputable importance of producing and consuming literary works –
if we consciously borrow the vocabulary of contemporary marketing
logic – the state sees no need for a legislative regulation which
would bring not only a symbolic but also an economic evaluation to
the person behind the book – the cultural asset particularly
honoured by the Slovenes. This alone would encourage more authors to
cross the threshold of professionalisation.
All these and many other questions will be discussed with our
foreign guests at all central and some of the accompanying events of
the 23rd Vilenica Festival.
CEI Round Table at Vilenica
This year's round table organised under the auspices of the
Central European Initiative is entitled "The Author between Text
and Context". The moderator, Dr Marko Uršič, will host guests
coming from the member states of the CEI – Yuri Andrukhovych
(Ukraine), Ivana Sajko (Croatia), and Goran Stefanovski
(Macedonia) – as well as Tomas Venclova (Lithuania) as an external
representative. Dr Uršič has based his concept around three
clusters of issues, the first touching on the role of the author
as writer, the second inquiring into his role as reader of his
works, and the third problematising his role as critic. Through
this sensible and original structure runs the red thread of
polemicising against contemporary economic and social reality,
which pressures the author to prove himself not only as a writer
but also as a promoter and apologist for his work. This
unavoidably interferes with the autonomy of artistic creation and
perhaps even runs counter to the laws of creativity.
The 6th International Comparative Literature Colloquium
In collaboration with the Slovene Comparative Literature
Association, with the Department of Comparative Literature and
Literary Theory (Philosophy of Arts, University of Ljubljana), and
the Institute of Slovene Literature and Literary Science
(Scientific Research Centre of the Slovene Academy of Sciences and
Arts), we are organising as part of the 23rd Vilenica Festival the
6th International Comparative Literature Colloquium on the topic
of "The Author: Who or What Is Writing Literature?", chaired
by Dr Vanesa Matajc and Dr Gašper
Troha. The speakers' contributions will revolve
around three central themes: (1) the Renaissance and the invention
of the author in modern Western literary theory; Ancient Greece
and the question of "who or what is creating literary texts (or
literary works of art)"; the Middle Ages and the concept of the
authority of a (literary) name ("Auctor"); (2) 20th century
concepts of the author: the problem of the author as the subject
of a literary work, the problem of language as the subject of a
literary text, the reader's adoption of the author's creative
role; neo-avant-gardes and the realisation of literature; the
concept of intertextuality; the virtual author in the new media;
(3) postcolonial studies and changes in the literary triad: the
author as an anonymous voice in oral literary tradition; (4) the
author's role in the historical inventions of tradition: the
author as a discursive construct in establishing the identities of
various social groups and their histories; the author as an
instrument for interpreting tradition, the author as interpreter,
the interpreter as an authority in the context of political
history, national cultural politics, gender politics, etc.; (5)
the author's function in the concept of literature as autonomous
reality: the author as the subject of literariness.
Accompanying events related to the theme of the
festival
The Vilenica accompanying programme is planned to include two more
events directly linked to the festival theme. The first is a
literary evening with Ciril Zlobec, entitled "A
Portrait of a Poet as a Young Man: an interview with Ciril Zlobec", where
members of the Slovene Writers' Association Youth Club will join
the poet in reflecting on the individual's earliest formation as a
creator of literature, and illuminate the differences between the
position held by young authors today and in the past. This,
however, will be but one of the many events grouped under the
title "Becoming an Author", which will take place on the
pre-festival Saturday in the Negovan Nemec Gallery at Bilje,
co-organised by the Slovene Writers' Association Youth Section.
Secondly, a round table entitled "Living as an Author in
Slovenia Today" and chaired by Mr Slavko Pregl, President of
the Slovene Writers' Association, will seek to deepen our insight
into the author's role in the typical Slovene reality. We will
inquire into the circumstances in which the Slovene author writes,
their changes since the Slovene declaration of independence, the
economic standing of authors, how they are perceived in the larger
media space, how this perception is influenced by the publisher's
promotional policy and by the author himself, and, last but not
least, how the author's position influences the status and
prospects of original Slovene literature.
A novelty of this year's Vilenica, already prefigured last year,
is a series of events featuring guest authors under the title "An
Author at My Table". Their co-organisers are the publishing houses
which will publish the works of the Vilenica guests in Slovene
translations this year. The decision of the Vilenica jury to
invite a number of writers scheduled to appear in Slovene
translations in 2008 is a conscious one, arising from the wish to
take full advantage of the guest authors' visit.
Presentation of books
Cankarjeva Publishing House will publish a book by Vilenica 2007
Prize Winner Goran Stefanovski translated by Aleš Mustar.
The Litterae Slovenicae Series, which celebrates its 45th
anniversary this year, will be enlarged with a translation of
selected poems by Svetlana Makarovič, who will be in the focus of
this year's festival. An accompanying study will be contributed by
Boris A. Novak; the translators of the poems are Ludwig
Hartinger and Alan McConnell-Duff and the editor
of the book is Lela B. Njatin.
Lesser-Known Literatures of Europe at Vilenica: Contemporary
Lithuanian Literature
This year's "Lesser-Known Literatures of Europe at Vilenica"
project focuses on contemporary Lithuanian literature. In
collaboration with the organisations
Books from Lithuania,
Literature Across Frontiers, and the
Embassy of Lithuania in
Ljubljana, we are preparing literary events and interviews
featuring the guest authors, as well as the publication of a
contemporary Lithuanian literature anthology entitled Artuma
(Closeness in English). In contrast to Basque and Irish-language
literatures, which were presented last year and the year before
last, the texts in this anthology are translated directly from the
original.
Interestingly, the Vilenica focus coincides with a general
interest of Slovene publishing houses in Lithuanian authors. The
Slovene translation corpus has been recently enriched by as many
as four literary novelties from Lithuania, some of them just about
to emerge from the printer's. The publication of these books is
fruitfully exploited at the Vilenica Festival as well: in
collaboration with the publishers, some of the books will be
presented together with the guest authors. A literature which was
but yesterday practically a closed book to the Slovene – and
largely also the international – readership thus introduces itself
with a flourish in the framework of Vilenica. The literary
programme will be accompanied by the performance of a jazz group
from Lithuania, which will first appear on its own and later in a
tried and tested combination with a literary reading.
Reception by the Mayor of the City of Ljubljana
The reception by the Mayor of the City of Ljubljana will take
place at Ljubljana castle. The evening will be dedicated to the
presentation of Vilenica 2008 Prize Winner
Andrzej Stasiuk and to
the Slovene poetess Svetlana Makarovič.
Presentation of the Crystal Vilenica
Beside the grand Vilenica Prize, there are other prizes to be
distributed. At the Štanjel Literary Matinée, the
Vilenica Crystal
Award will be given to one of the Central European authors. Their
contributions will be collected in the Vilenica 2008 Almanac and
presented at one of the literary readings. Along with a statuette
by the academic painter Peter Abram, the winner of the Crystal
receives an opportunity to participate in a central international
literary festival, the Cúirt Festival of Literature held in the
Irish town of Galway, while the Poetry Slam Award winner of the
Cúirt Festival will be welcomed at Vilenica. The Štanjel Literary
Matinée is sponsored, for the second year running, by the Tilia
Insurance Company.
Author in Focus: Svetlana Makarovič
The 23rd Vilenica Festival
will pay particular attention to the Slovene poet Svetlana
Makarovič. At the publication of selected and translated poems
from her collection Aloneness in the Litterae Slovenicae Series,
the author will appear at both central festival events: the
reception of the Vilenica participants by the Mayor of the City of
Ljubljana and the award-giving ceremony in the Vilenica Cave. Her
book will be presented to the public, international and Slovene,
in the Konzorcij Bookshop, together with a translation of selected
plays written by the Vilenica 2007 Prize winner,
Goran Stefanovski.
Rezija (Val Resia) at Vilenica
The Vilenica Festival has traditionally emphasised literary
creativity in minority languages, dialects, and other minor and
usually lesser-known language groups. Having presented the
literatures of Venetian Slovenia, of the Raab region, and of the
Slovene minority in Croatia in the previous years, this year the
Vilenica Festival will focus on the Rezija (Val Resia) dialect
with its literary activities. The first session will be held
during the regular 23rd Vilenica Festival, on Saturday, 6
September, at 11 AM as part of the Literary Matinée at Štanjel
Castle. The introductory presentations by Matej Šekli and
Roberto
Dapit will be followed by the readings of two poets, Silvana
Paletti and Renato Quaglia. The second session, a round table, is
scheduled after the official festival programme – on Thursday, 2
October, at 11 AM in Ljubljana. The participants in the
discussion, moderated by Matej Šekli, will be Roberto Dapit,
Milko
Matičetov, Luigia Negro, Silvana Paletti and Han Steenwijk.
The aim of the presentation, organised in collaboration with Matej
Šekli, is to provide an insight into the state of the Rezija
dialect and its literary creativity today, as well as to
problematise all factors with some bearing on the survival,
development, and recognisability of this rich cultural heritage.
The evening programme of the festival will include a viewing of Ta
rožina dolina, a documentary made by the Radio and Television
Slovenia.
CEI Fellowship for Writers in Residence
In the framework of the 23rd Vilenica Festival, the
Central European
Initiative from Trieste, collaborating with the
Slovene
Writers' Association, will award a fellowship for writers in
residence for the third year running.
Presentation of the grand Vilenica 2008 Prize
The central event of the festival is the presentation of the
Vilenica 2008 Prize to the Polish prose writer
Andrzej Stasiuk.
The presentation will take place in the Vilenica cave.
ACCOMPANYING PROGRAMME
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