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ANNOUNCEMENT
„BOOKSTAR" GROWS INTO ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT LITERATURE FESTIVALS IN THE REGION!!
5 10.2023, Skopje The BookStar Festival, with its exceptionally rich and socially engaged program, acquired the epithet of "one of the most significant literary festivals in the region"This qualification was shared by both the authors from ten European countries and the representatives of several regional publishing houses and festivals who followed the numerous events with undisguised pleasure and did not hide their admiration for the professionalism and quality of the festival content.
This edition will be remembered for its original format, which included the guest appearances of the biggest names of writers from European, regional and Macedonian literature, the convention of publishers and representatives of festivals from the region, the awarding of the "Dragi" awards at the national and international level, the podcasts, the fair of European literature, the meetings with the students, the translation panel, the slam competition, but the catchy slogan (Please do disturb / Ве молиме, вознемирувајте), "the writer speaks" on the topic "With or without Please" will also be remembered, cooperation with " Pacomak" to raise awareness about waste selection, translation of part of the events in sign language that made BookStar the first literary festival with an inclusive character, as well as the record interest shown by the media. The festival was opened by David Geer,, ambassador of the European Union in North Macedonia, and Bisera Kostadinovska StojčevskaMinister of Culture.
The most famous names from the world of literature came to Skopje, namely Najat El Hachmi (Spain), who received the "BookStar" 2023 award, Miljenko Jergović (Хрватска / БиХ), Lidija Dimkovska (Macedonia / Slovenia), Branko Rosić (Serbia), Drago Glamuzina (Croatia), Lucie Faulerová (Czech Republic), Stefan Hertmans (Belgium), Anja Mugerli (Slovenia), Francis Kirps (Luxembourg) and Sophie Hannah (United Kingdom). Then, there were the professional participants: Plamen and Stefan Totev (Persei Publishing House from Sofia, Bulgaria), Lamija Milišić (Secretary of the Bosnian PEN Center and Executive Director of the International Bookstan Festival, BiH), Drago Glamuzina (Editor-in-Chief at one of the largest publishing houses in Croatia "VBZ" and program director of the literary festival "Vrisok" from Rijeka), Aleksandar Šurbatović Aleksandar Šurbatović (long-time editor-in-chief of the publishing house "Dereta" and owner of the publishing house "Bloom", Serbia), Ena Hasečić (editor and PR in the most renowned publishing house from BiH "Buybook").
Within the framework of the festival, a memorandum of cooperation was concluded between the publishing house "Antolog" and the Faculty of Philology "Blaže Koneski" for the joint organization of the "Dragi" Award. This year, the following translators were shortlisted for the award: Ljubica Arsovska, Nikola Gjelinčeski, Ivan Šopov, Anastasija Gjurčinova and Zlatko Panzov,The "Dragi" award was given to Zlatko Panzov for the Hungarian translation of "Captivity" by György Spiró published by the publishing house Artkonekt and a special recognition-plaque for continuing the translation tradition and creative spirit of Dragi Mihajlovski was awarded to Nikola Gjelinčeski for the translation from Spanish of "Presongs of postspanish and other songs" by Jorge Enrique Adoum published by Aleph Publications. The international award "Dragi" for the most significant translation of a Macedonian author into a foreign language was also awarded to the translator Alexandra Ioannidou for the translation of the book "My Husband" by Rumena Bužarovska into Greek. Ioannidou not only came from Thessaloniki for this event, but gave a speech at the Faculty of Philology that has a historical dimension in the development of cultural relations between the two neighboring countries!
The special relationship with the translators was also shown with the panel in the context of the project "Made in Europe: the power of diversity", for which Ksenija Čočkova (translator from German who lives in Baden-Baden, Germany), Davor Stojanovski (translator from Slovenian living in the Carinthia/Koroshka area of Austria) and Mariangela Biancofiore (translator from Macedonian to Italian, living in Bari, Italy). arrived in Skopje especially for the Festival.
Sophie Hannah: unusual star – ordinary person
Yesterday, Sophie Hanna arrived from the United Kingdom, who is the first and only author in the past 40 years protected by Agatha Christie's family to write novels-sequels with Hercule Poirot, who was also present in Skopje in an interesting way. The event with this British author cemented 2023 as the most literary year so far in Macedonia. She came to BookStar during a period filled with writing and university lectures and a period in which she refused almost all international visits.
It is about a real star of the world literary scene who behaves quite ordinary and down to earth. As a Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author, she has been published in fifty-one languages and her books have sold millions of copies worldwide. Tuesday is the new series of novels-sequels with Hercule Poirot, commissioned by Agatha Christie's family, which so far are five in total. In 2014, with the permission of Agatha Christie's family and legal heirs, Sophie Hanna published a new Poirot novel, “The Monogram Murders”, which was a bestseller in more than fifteen countries. All five books were published by the publishing house “Antolog” and last night readers got the opportunity to have their books signed by the author.
- I was very excited when I saw the five novels in Macedonian, they look great, although it was strange when I saw them in Cyrillic, I just recognized Agatha Christie on the cover, I said to myself, where is my name? - Sophie joked at the beginning of the conversation, which continued in the same cheerful tone, and the audience sent her away with thunderous applause and a long queue for autographs.
As for how she got the rights to Agatha Christie's stories, she says that it was completely accidental, thanks to her agent, who happened to be in the company of a member of her family, so word got out about her as a big fan of the famous crime writer.
– I am a big fan of Agatha Christie. I have read everything by her, and even reread some books. I have been reading them since I was twelve years old. When the family saw how passionately I spoke about her work, they agreed to continue the series. There was only one problem, Poirot dies in Christie's last book, so I came up with the idea that I could place my books in the period from 1929 to 1932 when she wasn't writing, there was a break in that period. But since I knew nothing about history, it was difficult for me to go back to that time, so I re-read all her books from that period in order to capture that atmosphere. I also searched a lot on the Internet, for example, what kind of brandy was popular at that time, if and when the first kidney transplant was done, what I needed for one of the characters, etc. I was afraid whether I could manage to sound like a policeman from 1929! But after some people read what I wrote and said it was great, I was encouraged - said Sophie Hanna.
She says that every time she started writing a book in the Poirot series, she knew the ending, otherwise the whole story wouldn't make sense.
– How else would the story work? There are authors who start writing and see where the story takes them, but in my case, that can't work. Another thing that is most important to me is that the reader cannot guess who the killer is, otherwise there would be no mystery. I have read such crime novels in which the culprit was revealed to me from the second page, why then waste time with such a book - says Hana.
She says that crime novels, mysteries, and self-help books have always been her favorites, and she has written several of them.
- I read these books even for problems that I didn't have at all - jokes Sophie, who revealed that she also likes musicals and is currently working on one.
Filming is also underway on her murder musical The Mystery of Mr. E, co-written with her friend and composer Annette Armitage. The premiere of the film is scheduled for December 2023.
Getting rid of your fears through writing
The event entitled "In the center of life" was previously held in the same hall, through a conversation with the authors Lucie Faulerová (Czech Republic) and Anja Mugerli (Slovenia) was moderated by Aleksandar Madjarovski and Ana Golejška Djikova.
Anja Mugerli (1984) is a Slovenian author, proofreader and editor. She has a degree in Slovenian language and a master's degree in performance studies and creative writing. Her style is subtle, with great psychological insight into the characters. She made her debut with the short story collection "The Green Armchair" (2015) and was shortlisted for the award for the best debut book. In 2017, she published the novel "Spovin", which was nominated for the Kresnik Award (2018). In 2021, the collection of short stories "Bee Family" was shortlisted for The Novo Mesto Award and received the European Union Literature Award, and has so far been translated into many languages (Croatian, Italian, Macedonian, Hungarian, Bulgarian, etc.). It was this book, translated into Macedonian and published by "Antolog", that was the topic of the conversation. "The Bee Family" is a collection of seven short stories. Each story represents a certain rite or custom from the Slovenian tradition, which in Mugerli's work are inserted into a different context or into modern frameworks, so that they take on a new role and acquire a new meaning.
- The idea was born when I wrote a story for a literature competition, but it didn't get very far. However, I continued with the same concept and from that, this book was born. I wanted to create a mystical atmosphere throughout the collection, because folk rituals and customs are also shrouded in magic. I remember that when I was little I was enveloped in fear by those stories and strange creatures that permeate the Slovenian tradition. The book is in a way a release from that fear. Today, with the development of technology, we forget less about those stories from childhood, but they still remain somewhere deep in our consciousness - said Mugerli.
All but one of the stories take place in the present, however, the rituals and atmosphere make them seem timeless. According to her, the short stories move somewhere on the border between reality and the unconscious, and this is exactly her specificity.
On stage with Anja was the Czech writer Lucie Faulerová (1989), who in 2020 published the novel “The Death Girl”, which was nominated for the Magnesia Litera Prize for prose in 2021 and won the European Union Prize for Literature. The book "The Death Girl" can be read as a family novel, as a novel-study of suicides, as a psychological-contemplative novel, as a novel about a girl who, despite the difficult reality, wants to live.
- The fact that the character in the book is sad does not mean that the story should be told in such a way. I also use humor, which does not only have the function of making people laugh, but also of showing the absurdity of things. During the writing of the novel I did research on more bizarre cases of suicides and in a way I became obsessed with this topic. Although there are many bereavement support groups in the Czech Republic, I haven't found one that helps people who have lost a loved one to suicide. I was interested in how those people grieve, I discovered that the way is different, there is always more anger and rage in all of it. I’m not a sociologist, I’m a writer, but I think it's okay to talk about this topic in literature as well. That I’m on the right track was also shown by the many calls I received after I published the book, people who were looking for help and comfort in some way. That's when I realized how much responsibility I was carrying - Lucie said.
Although apparently the main theme in the novel is suicide, however, according to her, it is the freedom of choice – whether to live or not.
First BookStar Slam Match
The festival was officially closed with a grand slam competition of some of the authors participating in the festival of European literature, as well as other Macedonian participants: Francis Kirps (Luxembourg), Ana Golejška-Djikova, Marija Grubor, Lile Jovanoska, Igor Trpčeski, Gorazd Keni Kitanovski, Anica Blaževska, Andrej Al-Asadi.The packed cinema “Frosina” was waiting for the results of this unusual match until deep into the night. In the end, the first place went to Ana Golejshka-Djikova, while Marija Grubor and Andrej Al-Asadi received the plaques for second and third place.
In the period from October 2-4, everyone had the opportunity to meet the authors during BookStar 2023.
The festival was held under the slogan “Please do disturb” and was supported by the Ministry of Culture, the literary network Traduki, EU with YOU, the publishing house “Antolog”, the Czech Literary Center, the Center for Flemish Literature, the European Union, the Bulgarian Cultural and Information Center in Skopje and the Embassies of the Czech Republic, Spain and Belgium. The festival program took place in several locations in Skopje. Media sponsor of the event was the Macedonian Radio Television. The visual identity was created by Vladimir Trajanovski,and the festival video was created by Radmila Vankoska.
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