Slovene Author in Focus
This year the Vilenica Festival will pay special attention to probably the most internationally renowned Slovene poet Tomaž Šalamun. Apart from Ko vdre senca / When the shadow breaks / Quand l’ombre force,a publication of a selection of his work in English and French translations in the Litterae Slovenicae Series, the author will take part in several festival events.The first one being a pre-opening event in Koper, where he will appear alongside the American poetess C.D. Wright, andthe second a reception for the Vilenica participants by the Mayor of the City of Ljubljana. The author will also take part in the presentation of Ko vdre senca / When the shadow breaks / Quand l’ombre forceat the Konzorcij Bookshop in Ljubljana.
Tomaž Šalamun
Tomaž Šalamun, author of 40 poetry collections, is the most translated and best known Slovenian poet. He has received several awards for his poetry in Slovenia and abroad (Prešern Prize, Jenko Prize, European Prize for poetry by the German city Münster, Golden Wreath Struga 2009, etc.) and was a Fulbright Fellow at Columbia University. He is also a member of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts. He teaches creative writing in the United States (Pittsburgh). His poetic production is extraordinary; in the seventies and in the eighties he published on average two poetry books per year. At the beginning, Šalamun’s poetry bypassed the repressive social game in a playful and witty manner. Gradually, it became involved in detecting oscillations of the human mind and resembled more and more a lab research of the space between »you can and you cannot«. And still, with every book, it consciously runs the risk of all the ascents and falls.