Towns around Slovenia to pay tribute to books this week

Maribor will pay its homage to literature for the 20th year running, taking the opportunity to make the town itself the central topic under the title City in Literature - Maribor the Main Hero.

The more than 90 events planned at several venues until Sunday will start tonight with a presentation of an installation entitled Time Capsule.

The capsule, made from disused, worn out books, features contributions by acclaimed Slovenia authors who had been the main guests of the festival in the past. The content will only be revealed in ten years, when the capsule is opened again.

The main guests of this year's Slovenian Book Days will be Slovenia's foremost writer Drago Jančar who will present his latest novel, situated in Maribor where he was born.

A mainstay of the festival in Maribor is the book market and readings in Grajski trg square, while events are also scheduled in secondary schools, faculties, galleries etc.

Meanwhile, the relationship between authors and readers will take central stage in the capital, where the name of the main theme is I'm the One Writing You, But Who is the One Reading?

Around 30 events dispersed around the city, one venue being the Vič shopping centre, are scheduled at the festival, which will spread to museums and galleries for the first time.

More than 70 participating authors have been announced for Ljubljana, whose Stritarjeva street will be the location of the traditional book fair.

The Slovenian Book Days will also be held in Dol pri Hrastniku, Celje, Slovenske Konjice, Ormož, Novo mesto, Lenart, Kranj, Krško in Koper, while books will also be celebrated big time on Friday around the country with the help of the UNESCO-backed Book Night initiative.

The Book Night project saw 350 events and more than 100,000 visitors in 2016. Similar figures are expected for this year.