MONDAY, 2 September
19.00 Hosting Vilenica in Hrastnik
Muanis Sinanović (Slovenia)
Moderator: Irena Senčar
Hrastnik, the Compressor Station
20.00 Hosting Vilenica in Koper
Dušan Šarotar (Slovenia)
Moderator: Irena Urbič
Koper, Atrium of the RTV Slovenia Regional Broadcasting Centre Koper/Capodistria (in case of rain, in Studio 3)
TUESDAY, 3 September
20.00 Official Opening of the Festival – Presentation of the CEI 2024 Award for Young Writers and CEI Round Table: “Icarus 2.0”
Vuk Ćosić (Slovenia), Monika Herceg (Croatia), Simon Krek (Slovenia), Dušan Šarotar (Slovenia) and Jernej Županič (Slovenia)
Moderator: Aljoša Harlamov
Ljubljana, Cankarjev dom, Alma Karlin Hall
The discussion will be held in English. Translation into Slovene by Breda Biščak.
WEDNESDAY, 4 September
17.00 Literary Haven
Monika Herceg (Croatia), Miljenko Jergović (Croatia/Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Paolo Rumiz (Italy)
Moderators: Irena Urbič and Martin Lissiach
Trieste, Antico Caffè San Marco
The discussion will be held in Slovene, Croatian and Italian.
20.00 Karstic World
Lamija Begagić (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Ryan Falzon (Malta), Miljenko Jergović (Croatia/Bosnia and Herzegovina), Robert Şerban (Romania) and Muanis Sinanović (Slovenia)
Moderator: Breda Biščak
Sežana, Kosovelov dom, Amphitheater (in case of rain, in the Kosovelov dom)
The discussion will be held in English and Slovene.
THURSDAY, 5 September
9.00 – 13.00 and 15.00 – 19.00: 22nd International Comparative Literature Colloquium: “The History of Comparative Literature in Central Europe” (Part I)
Chair: Blaž Gselman (Slovenia), Tone Smolej (Slovenia), Kaitlyn Sorenson (USA) and Blaž Zabel (Slovenia)
Participants: Norbert Bachleitner (Austria), Vladimir Biti (Austria), Róbert Gáfrik (Slovakia), Suman Gupta (England), Péter Hajdu(China), Paweł Marcinkiewicz (Poland), Antoni Martí Monterde (Spain), Daniel Pietrek (Poland), Kaitlyn Sorenson (USA), Zoltán Varga (Hungary), Blaž Zabel (Slovenija) and Steven Tötösy de Zepetnek (China)
Ljubljana, Cankarjev dom, Alma Karlin Hall
The discussion will be held in English.
17.00 Literary Conundrum
Literary reading: Lamija Begagić (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Eustathia Paliotzika (Greece), Paolo Rumiz (Italy), Robert Şerban (Romania), Dominik Srienc (Austria/Slovenia) and Jernej Županič (Slovenia)
Moderator: Dražen Dragojević
Ljubljana, the Lili Novy Garden (the Garden of the SWA) (in case of rain, at the SWA)
20.00 Czech Republic at Vilenica
Lenka Kuhar Daňhelová, Sylva Fischerová, Petr Hruška and Dora Kaprálová
Moderator: Alenka Jensterle Doležal
Ljubljana, Cankarjev dom, Alma Karlin Hall
The discussion will be held in Czech. Translation into Slovene by Maša Šraml.
FRIDAY, 6 September
10.00–13.30: 22nd International Comparative Literature Colloquium: “The History of Comparative Literature in Central Europe” (Part 2)
Chair:Alen Albin Širca (Slovenia) and Tone Smolej (Slovenia)
Participants: Varja Balžalorsky Antić (Slovenia), Alenka Jensterle Doležal (Czech Republic), Irena Samide (Slovenia), Tone Smolej (Slovenia), Alen Albin Širca (Slovenia) and Miloš Zelenka (Czech Republic)
Ljubljana, Cankarjev dom, Alma Karlin Hall
The discussion will be held in Slovene.
15.00–19.00: 22nd International Comparative Literature Colloquium: “The History of Comparative Literature in Central Europe” (Part 2)
Chairs: Alexandre Burin (England) and Blaž Zabel (Slovenia)
Participants: Max Behmer (Germany), Sylva Fischerová (Czech Republic), Blaž Gselman (Slovenia), Jernej Habjan (Slovenia) and Jasmina Talam (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Ljubljana, Center Rog, University Room
The discussion will be held in English.
12.00 Literary Noon
Ryan Falzon (Malta), Dora Kaprálová (Czech Republic), Eustathia Paliotzika (Greece), Dominik Srienc (Austria/Slovenia) and Dušan Šarotar (Slovenia)
Moderator: Dražen Dragojević
Ljubljana, the Lili Novy Garden (the Garden of the SWA) (in case of rain, in the Entrance Hall of the National Gallery of Slovenia)
The discussion will be held in English and Slovene.
14.30 LIT-DATING
Programme for Literary Intermediaries
16.30 Literary Afternoon
Lamija Begagić (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Lenka Kuhar Daňhelová (Czech Republic), Monika Herceg (Croatia), Petr Hruška (Czech Republic) and Muanis Sinanović (Slovenia)
Moderator: Dražen Dragojević
Ljubljana, the Lili Novy Garden (the Garden of the SWA) (in case of rain, in the Entrance Hall of the National Gallery of Slovenia)
The discussion will be held in English and Slovene.
19.00 Portraying human destinies in broad strokes – Literary evening with the Prize Winner
Miljenko Jergović (Croatia/Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Moderator: Đurđa Strsoglavec
Ljubljana, Švicarija
The discussion will be held in Slovene and Croatian.
SATURDAY, 7 September
10.00–13.00 22nd International Comparative Literature Colloquium: “The History of Comparative Literature in Central Europe” (Part 3)
Chair: Blaž Gselman (Slovenia)
Participants: Ştefan Baghiu (Romania), Milena Mileva Blažić (Slovenia), Alexandre Burin (England), Andrei Terian (Romania) and Snejana Ung (Romania)
Ljubljana, Center Rog, University Room
The discussion will be held in English.
10.30 Literary Matinée – Karstic Words
Literary reading: Ryan Falzon (Malta), Petr Hruška (Czech Republic), Dora Kaprálová (Czech Republic), Dominik Srienc (Austria/Slovenia) and Jernej Županič (Slovenia)
Presentation of the Crystal Vilenica 2024 Award
Moderator: Breda Biščak
Štanjel, Štanjel Castle, (in case of rain, in the Knight’s Hall)
18.30 Presentation of the Vilenica 2024 Prize to Miljenko Jergović
Literary reading: Lenka Kuhar Daňhelová (Czech Republic), Eustathia Paliotzika (Greece) and Dušan Šarotar (Slovenia)
Opening speech: Andrej Sila, Mayor of the Municipality of Sežana
Laudation: Đurđa Strsoglavec, Member of the Vilenica Jury
Presentation of the Prize: Marij Čuk, Vice-President of the Slovene Writers’ Association
Moderator: Dražen Dragojević
Lokev, Vilenica Cave
All festival events are free of charge.
Accompanying Programme
SATURDAY, 7 September
14.41 – 15.48 Literary train Mesto knjige-Sežana-Vilenica
Ludwig Hartinger (Austria), Dušan Šarotar (Slovenia) and Aleš Berger (Slovenia)
Nova Gorica, railway station – Sežana, railway station
The Mesto knjige festival is co-financed by the Municipality of Nova Gorica and the Slovenian Book Agency. Literary train is part of the Think Tank train project, which is implemented by the Društvo humanistvov Goriške within the framework of the official program GO!2025 European Capital of Culture 2025.
