 Sept 2 - Sept 7

 Kras, Ljubljana

The 39th Vilenica International Literary Festival will bring more than 20 authors from 16 countries to events in the western region of Kras and the capital Ljubljana.

Miljenko Jergović, a Sarajevo-born Croatian author, will receive the Vilenica Prize at the conclusion of the festival at a ceremony at the Vilenica Cave, after which the festival is named.

The laureate will also appear at a literary evening in Ljubljana, at the Švicarija venue in Tivoli Park, on 6 September.

Readings and events featuring other authors will also be held at the Lili Novy garden of the Slovenian Writers' Association in Ljubljana, the Kosovel Home in Sežana and at Štanjel Castle.

The festival will see almost 20 events, including a Central European Initiative (CEI) round-table on AI and the humanness of literature, and an international conference on the history of comparative literature in Central Europe.

This year the focus will be on Czech literature, with the authors Lenka Kuhar Daňhelová, Petr Hruška and Dora Kaprálová visiting the festival. The Slovenian writer in focus will be Dušan Šarotar.

Croatian poet, playwright and editor Monika Herceg will receive the CEI Award for up-and-coming writers at the official opening of the festival in Ljubljana on 3 September.

The festival will also feature Lamija Begagić from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ryan Falzon from Malta, Efstathia Paliotzika from Greece, Paolo Rumiz from Italy, Robert Şerban from Romania, Muanis Sinanović from Slovenia and Dominik Srienc from Austria/Slovenia, among others.

For more information and a detailed programme, click here.