Poetry often served as a substitute for army and other forms of aggressive identity to Slovenians through history, poet Ivan Dobnik has told the STA on the occasion.

However, Dobnik also says that this does not make Slovenians any more or less poetic nation as any other. But he also says that Slovenian is a good language to write poetry in.

Dobnik, the editor of the literary journal Poetikon, regrets that many poets go with the flow of what is popular and appeals to the market, while he also says that almost everyone writes poetry nowadays.

Although an average book of poetry now has but a fraction of circulation poetry books used to have, Dobnik believes that the people who truly love poetry will always stay faithful to it.

Slovenia's largest publisher Mladinska knjiga as a rule issues three books of poetry translated from other languages annually, plus two original poetry books and an illustrated poetry collection.

The associate publisher Cankarjeva založba publishes at least two original Slovenian books of poems annually. There are also various anthologies and reprints of selected poems.

This year Mladinska knjiga also plans to release collected work of authors forming Slovenia's poetry canon France Prešeren, Simon Gregorčič, Anton Aškerc, Josip Murn and Oton Župančič, among other things.

The most popular authors sell in several thousand copes, while some come out in as few as 200. The last collection of poetry by Tone Pavček (1928-2011), "Angeli" (Angels) was the top selling book in Slovenia in 2013, which Mladinska knjiga says is rare even globally.

To mark World Poetry Day, the Slovenian Writers' Association will hold a poetry and musical evening at the Ljubljana Town Hall's atrium. Poems will also be read in front of the headquarters of Maribor University.

Meanwhile, the Iriu Institute has selected poems by several Slovenian and foreign poets which will be served with coffee at selected coffee shops in Ljubljana and Celje.