Hand in hand for the future of the literary and cultural sphere

Less than a week separates us from the 35 award. The firefighter and the end of the fifth execution A young penwhere the media house, in cooperation with the office of Ljubljana, the UNESCO City of Literature, will be awarded the best young author and critic of this season for the fourth time. Since the start of the project that runs it a journalist of cultural editorial board Pia Prezeljis cooperation fruitful and mutual not only at A young penbut also with a firefighter whose rosary is enriched with their popup bookstore.

“Collaboration is already involved in the starting point of the project A young pensince he always collects doubles of literary and critical creators. Work In doing so, he provides space for publication, and the Ljubljana Office, UNESCO Literature City, provides additional activities and further integration, « explained her associate Andrej Hocevar.

Her leader Tina Popovich has added that they are the section A young pen And the prize of the same name did a great job in establishing the visibility of those who are just entering into writing, and supporting young creators in addition to bringing books to people – also by organizing book fairs in the air and small traveling books – one of the main missions of the office with a permanent UNESCO title.

A commitment to open the space

“When the word is applied to A young penat work, we persistently repeat that the sections are not perceived as an exceeded effort, rather than responsibility and commitment that arise from the mission of spreading a written word and promoting critical thought. We also share these values ​​with the office of Ljubljana, the UNESCO City of Literature, and in this sense it is a natural alliance. It’s nice to see how the project is developing, many participants, not just award -winning authors and critics have been since its inception A young pen established in the field of literature, which merely reinforces me in the belief that the project is successful and meaningful, « emphasized the editor of the Cultural editorial office of Delo Andrej Predin. An example of this is, so Tina Popovich, duo Sasha Puljarevic and Tanja Bozicwinner of the second season A young pen. The then award -winning critic is the editor at Cankar’s publishing house, and the poet and cultural attaché at the French Institute in Slovenia then published a debut at LUD Literature They know a branch.

Pia Prezelj, journalist of the cultural editorial board of work and project manager A young pen, Therefore, he sees the section « as a commitment to opening up or at least to produce a door into the space of contemporary Slovene literature, which we have adopted both the Delo newspaper and the Ljubljana office, the UNESCO City of Literature, which also acts as a hub and one of the main supporters of the book in the capital. He also strives to support young Slovenian author’s votes Workwhose function is spilled beyond the boundaries of notification, in the field of preservation and cultivation of humanistic values, which also includes the placement of fiction in daily journalism. « 

Possibilities for further development

The award -winning author receives a cash prize and a critic is one -year -old Honorated Publication of Reviews in Delo Literary sheets. “In order to connect young creators with editors and publishers, we have prepared a meeting where the editors were given the opportunity to get to know new voices, and the creators and the editors and ways of working with publishers were given. A young pen We also linked to To other opinions, projects of the Slovenian Literary Critics Association for mentoring assistance in the editing of the firstography, which will be held this time in cooperation with the office of Ljubljana, the UNESCO City of Literature. Because critical creators usually have less opportunities than literary creators, we are in the context of Other opinions Pay special attention in the form of intensive cooperation of two critics, « said Andrej Hočevar, who runs two colloquial evenings with the current generation each year on the Vodnik Homestead on the Vodnik Homestead every year A young pen.

“Interestingly, many participants meet for the first time at a joint event, which means that A young pen This also became a platform that helps to create a community. Among the participating creators are those who have already published a debut or even more books, some entered as such authors, others at a point when everything seems open. The problems they face are also diverse, but most agree that entry into the literature field is often difficult and dependent on established relationships.

In addition, it shows again that editorial cooperation is not taken for granted, in fact it is not necessarily clearly defined. That is why it is even more important that A young pen It creates an organic community, not the first and at the same time last opportunity. The field of literature and culture in general must constantly rejuvenate and accept new ideas; Otherwise, not at the cost of erasing everything that was before, but with the announcement of new insights and expressions. Especially with critical creators involved in A young penit is quickly obvious that the reception of literature is often based on for granted assumptions that we have not been aware of at all, « he summed up the observations.