The Fabjan Hafner Award, conferred by Goethe Institut Ljubljana, will be given out to Štefan Vevar for his translation to Slovenian of The Rings of Saturn by German author W. G. Sebald.

Vevar, an expert on German and English studies, is best known as a translator of the greatest names of German literature into Slovenian, while also excelling in translation studies and history of the theatre.

The award was established this year by the Ljubljana Goethe Institute together with Literarisches Colloquium Berlin and the Musil Institute from Austria's Klagenfurt.

The Slovenian Book Fair, the biggest publishing event in the country, started on Tuesday evening to feature 115 exhibitors and more than 300 accompanying events.

The fair ran under the symbol of the rebellious hero of the first Slovenian picture book, Martin Krpan, equipped with a book.

This aims to send out the message that books remain the most effective weapon, while the 100th anniversary of Martin Krpan is being celebrated this year.

For the third year running, the fair placed an emphasis on international literature, this time focusing on German-speaking countries.