Ljubljana Reads is the longest-running expression of regionalism at the Pula Books and Authors Festival. Conceived in 2016 as a multimedia format at the 22nd Book Fair(y) in Istria, this program already featured nearly 20 events in Pula that year—most notably a performance by the renowned art collective Laibach at the Sacred Hearts Gallery. Since then, the collaboration between the Fair and the city of Ljubljana—as a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network—has continued to evolve. 

  
The cultural and artistic scene of Ljubljana—a World Book Capital that hosts 10,000 cultural events annually and is part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network—will take to the stage for the tenth consecutive year at the 32nd Book Fair(y) in Istria. Marking a milestone anniversary for the Ljubljana Reads program, this year’s edition will take place from November 27 to December 6 at the House of Croatian Homeland War Veterans in Pula. Through encounters with both established authors and fresh faces from the literary and artistic scene, visitors will have the opportunity to explore contemporary Slovenian culture and its echoes across literature, philosophy, photography, and the arts.

Ljubljana Reads is the longest-running expression of regionalism at the Pula Festival of Books and Authors—The Book Fair(y) in Istria. Over the years, the Fair has been nurtured through programs such as Authors from the Neighbourhood (2008), Vojvodina Reads (2013), Belgrade Reads (2015), Herzegovina Reads (2017), and Macedonia Reads (2018)—all aimed at showcasing regional literary, artistic, and publishing scenes. Conceived during the 22nd Book Fair(y) in Istria in 2016, Ljubljana Reads was designed as a multimedia format encompassing Ljubljana’s publishing, literary, academic, art, illustration, musical, and even gastronomic scenes. Even then, the program featured nearly twenty events in Pula with notable highlights including a performance by the renowned art collective Laibach at the Sacred Hearts Gallery, a performance by the poetry and chanson diva Svetlana Makarovič, and exhibitions by Metka Krašovec, Alenka Sottler, Hana Stupica, and Jure Eržen—guest appearances during the inaugural Night of Galleries event in Pula. Since then, the Ljubljana Reads program—realized in collaboration with The City of Ljubljana’s Department of Culture led by long-time head of department Mateja Demšič and the public institution Museum and Galleries of the City of Ljubljana—has hosted a wide array of authors, including Andrej Blatnik, Anja Zag Golob, Drago Ivanuša, Ana Hofman, Jurij Devetak, Tone Stojko, Mladen Dolar, Alenka Zupančič, Ana Schnabl, and many others.

To mark the tenth, milestone anniversary of the Ljubljana Reads program, the fair stage will host anthropologist and philosopher Svetlana Slapšak, author Agata Tomažič, and author and photographer Dušan Šarotar, with debut appearances from artist Samira Kentrić, culturologist Mitja Velikonja, and author Pia Prezelj. Also featured will be a Pula audience favorite: author, screenwriter, and director Goran Vojnović.

 
This occasion will also see the launch of the Stories We Tell program, dedicated to the art of storytelling, where visitors will have the chance to hear specially crafted stories centered on this year’s Fair theme, La vita è bella, narrated by Agata Tomažič, Dušan Šarotar, and Goran Vojnović. 

Reflecting on life through its fundamental paradox—a blend of unexpected highs and dizzying lows, moments of relief, joy, and contentment, but also of melancholy, pain, and confrontation —will be the focus of a roundtable discussion featuring philosopher Predrag Finci, essayist and publicist Zdravko Zima, and guest appearance Svetlana Slapšak. 

In the Debutants' First Round program, young writer, translator, and journalist Pia Prezelj will present her award-winning literary debut, Heavy Water (Hena.com), a work that offers a powerful insight into motherhood, unfulfilled desires, guilt, and a past that continues to shape the present.

The highlight of the Ljubljana Reads program will be the renowned Night of Galleries program that, ten years ago, launched the collaboration between Ljubljana and Pula, and this year’s event will feature Samira Kentrić with her exhibition I’m Following Trends at the Pula City Gallery, as well as Dušan Šarotar with his exhibition Star Map at the Makina Gallery.

Since 2024, the collaboration between Pula and Ljubljana has also extended in the opposite direction. Each year, the Book Fair(y) in Istria brings a literary guest to Ljubljana, who then appears at the Cukrarna Gallery as part of the Indigo Festival. Kristian Novak was the first guest to participate in a conversation with Aljoša Pužar, followed by Boris Dežulović in 2025. This time, on Friday, October 9, at 5:00 PM at Cukrarna, the Montenegrin and Bosnian and Herzegovinian writer and columnist Andrej Nikolaidis will appear as part of the Twilight Zine program. On the same day, at 11:00 AM, a press conference will be held to provide a detailed overview of this year’s Ljubljana Reads program.