CEI Anthology 2025
From the introduction:
We might also say that books have their own fate, though that has already been said many times; the present one is among you thanks to the Central European Initiative, a project with which the Slovene Writers’ Association has been involved for many years. At first it was a residency award, and after 2016 a book publishing award was added (and eventually remained). We can never have enough books, and over the years quite a fine pile has amassed; this time is no different.
It has already happened on several occasions that a young CEI laureate, in agreement with the Slovene Writers’ Association, saw their work published in Slovenia outside this present collection. So it goes—and last year’s laureate, Monika Herceg, will also receive her book elsewhere, which does not mean that her work will not brush against the publications at Tomšičeva 12; in conversation with Miha Maurič, the organizational director of the Vilenica Festival, we considered what to do differently this year, something fresher, and in light of the fortieth anniversary we devised the idea of putting together a kind of overview of SEP’s book editions, so that on this jubilee occasion all such voices could once again be heard—collected and brought together.
And indeed we have them; among them also Ana Svetel, who has received the honor of being this year’s CEI laureate. Each CEI awardee since the beginning of the book series is presented with a brief glimpse into their chosen work. Thanks to all who contributed, the collection could come into being, and we could meet again in this way as well. For objective reasons, Jasen Vasilev was unable to provide a contribution, and so he is presented here only with a biography. Thus we have, in order: Ljubka, Erizanu, Šopov, Vasilev, Bošković, Bouharaoua, Rakočević, Herceg, and Svetel—all literary heroes and heroines, some from the present collections, others from elsewhere. It is worth taking them into your hands and meeting them again and again, reflecting on the richness and diversity of their writing, and simply thinking about literature as a medium that—among its many other fine qualities—breaks down borders, which is all the more important today.
Welcome on the CEI journey! Stay with us!
mag. Matej Krajnc,
Vice-President of the Slovene Writers’ Association