Lirikonfest

Contact

Lirikonfest

Stari trg 26, SI-3320 Velenje

http://www.uvkf.si/

lirikonfest@gmail.com

Phone386 (0) 3 587 0920

Organised byVelenje Literary Foundation

Frequencyannual

Festival dates11.6.2024 - 13.6.2024

Lirikonfest Velenje is a traditional year-round festival celebrating 21st-century lyrical and travelogue arts. Its main program is a literary meeting with international participation in Velenje (held in June or September), which has been organized by the Velenje Literary Foundation (UVKF) and the Velenika literary association, in cooperation with Slovenian and foreign partners, since 2002. For the first five years, it was known as the “Herbersteinian meeting of Slovenian authors with international participation.”

Lirikonfest Velenje (a “poetry retreat” and “festival of lyrical and travelogue sensibility”) has been dedicated to the presentation and popularization of 21st-century fine literature, its authors, translators, international intermediaries of Slovenian poetry/literature and language to other nations, Slovenian travelogue writers and essayists, organizers, editors, and other experts on Slovenian, European, and World literature for two decades. It establishes and broadens international literary collaboration, focusing on original and translated 21st-century poetry and contemplating the cognitive, cohesive, and critical role of literature in European society and beyond. Lirikonfest's literary roundtables feature essays and debates on contemporary European literary themes.

Programme

The year-round program of Lirikonfest Velenje includes 21 productions. These are presented to around one hundred foreign and Slovenian authors, translators, international intermediaries, and other experts in 21st-century fine literature through original and translated periodical publications in the festival anthology Rp. Lirikon21, festival readings, literary roundtables, residential creative stays, and other events.

Both established and emerging Slovenian and European authors, translators, expert interpreters, editors, philosophers, aesthetes, international literary intermediaries, and other experts and followers of original and translated fiction (especially 21st-century poetry; since 2017, an original Slovenian travelogue has been included) are invited to participate in Lirikonfest.

Lirikonfest's events are open to the public and include a reading culture development program with literary subscriptions (program cycles), namely I Devour Books (“Požiram knjigo”; for adults and older youth), Chocolate with a Book (“Čokolada s knjigo”; for children and younger youth), and Winged Turtle Tales (“Krilata želva pripoveduje”; selected Slovenian travelogues).

In a manner of speaking, Lirikonfest Velenje encompasses all circles through which Slovenian literature spreads among readers: it introduces children’s literature to the youngest; enables younger authors to gain more recognition; presents the latest works of established Slovenian and foreign authors; opens expert roundtable debates on contemporary themes in Slovenian and European literature; includes its own literary-periodical and fictional book production; spreads the reading culture; offers a variety of literary events; and demonstrates international literary collaboration in Slovenia, occasionally joining tours or presentations abroad.

22. Lirikonfest Velenje (2023) by Ivo Stropnik on YouTube

Awards

The Poetic Slovenia Academy has been a traditional literary-artistic event in Velenje since 2007 (beginning in 2006, on March 21st - World Poetry Day, and included in the Lirikonfest program since 2008) with a gala pan-Slovenian literary award ceremony for five awards.

Velenjica - the Goblet of Immortality is a literary award recognizing 10 years of outstanding poetry by a Slovenian author who has had a significant impact on 21st-century fine literature.

The International Pretnar Award is the main Slovenian acknowledgment, accompanied by the honorary title of “Ambassador of Poetry, Slovenian Literature, and Language.” Presented at the literary meeting in Velenje since 2004 and at Lirikonfest Velenje since 2008, the award honors individuals (only exceptionally pairs or groups) for their significant contributions to international networking or establishing Slovenian literature and language abroad. It celebrates deserving cultural intermediaries (both foreign and domestic) who, in the spirit of Tone Pretnar (1945–1992), work to introduce Slovenian poetry, fine literature, language, and authors to the world.

The international festival literary acknowledgment Lirikon’s Gold Piece has been awarded by the Velenje Literary Foundation, Lirikonfest Velenje, and Rp. Lirikon21 since 2006/2007 for outstanding translations of 21st-century poetry for adults into Slovenian or from Slovenian into other languages, selected at the festival or through a tender process (later published in the festival anthology Rp. Lirikon21).

The Lirikonfest’s Gold Piece is a biannual festival literary recognition award (awarded since 2008) for the most substantial essay on the theme of the Lirikonfest roundtable.

The Winged Turtle is a pan-Slovenian literary award for the best Slovenian literary travelogue, published as a book in the previous year (and, as of 2023, equivalently for the best Slovenian literary travelogue not yet published as a book, selected through a tender process). Established as part of the Lirikonfest Velenje program in 2017, it has proven to be a novelty in Slovenia. The travelogue genre is becoming increasingly popular but has not yet achieved proper academic recognition. We aim to popularize the travelogue genre and help promote Slovenian travelogue authors (preferably with a fine literature tone).

See also

• Velenje Literary Foundation

External links

• On Lirikonfest on the Velenje Literary Foundation website (in Slovenian)

Gallery

Poster for the 23rd Lirikonfest, 2024.