In 2023, "BookStar" was the first literary festival in our country that offered translation of part of the events in sign language. This year we are going one step further. We have made sure that the book "The distance between me and the cherry tree" by Paola Peretti, the author who will be visiting the Festival, and who is herself facing gradual loss of sight, will be available in Braille. Behind this lies not only some kind of symbolism, but also a mission to ensure that beautiful and quality literature does not remain in the dark for any category of readers.
Since statistics show a lack of this kind of books in public institutions, copies of "The distance between me and the cherry tree" in Braille will be donated and distributed in several libraries throughout Macedonia.
Additionally, in collaboration with "Samoglas", several audiobooks are being released these days, including “The distance between me and the cherry tree” by Paola Peretti and “Invisible” by Eloy Moreno, which addresses the topic of bullying.
We hope that we will not stop here and that this will be an example from which we will all learn more.
INCLUSIVE INITIATIVE "TALKING HANDS"
There is a language that is not spoken by mouth but by hands and it helps us to communicate with deaf and hard of hearing people. They are part of our community and the goal of the "BookStar" Festival is to include them in its activities. Through this inclusive initiative and through the cooperation with "Talking hands", some of the events will be accessible to people with partial or total hearing disabilities. Our common task is to be open to all our fellow citizens.
Look for the "Talking hands" icon in the program to see which events are inclusive.
"Talking hands" is a project that is the result of long-term cooperation between the Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing - "Silence" - Karposh and the International Foundation "Boris Trajkovski" in partnership with the "Signo" Foundation from Norway. The project has two components:
- Creating a Macedonian sign dictionary )www.znakoven.mk)
(the sign language dictionary was created and approved by the deaf population in Macedonia);
- Providing more jobs for the deaf population in a mixed environment and their socialization (deaf and hearing people) www.ovosen.mk.
More at: https://znakoven.mk/
