Organized by the FSK and the book fair and festival Book Fair(y) in Istria the Slavic Garden in Pula saw its third edition in the framework of the Pula book fair. Its aim is to promote Slavic literatures and this year it all revolved around the central theme – Love.
This year, the Slavic Garden welcomed Slovenian author Gabriela Babnik and her Ukrainian counterpart Sofia Andrukhovych, and dedicated a special event to the 200th anniversary of F. M. Dostoevsky’s birth. Gabriela Babnik presented the Croatian translation of her novel Intimno (Intimately), published by Sandorf Publishing in the framework of the One Hundred Novels collection. Her cosmopolitan novel bares open the intimate world of its protagonists who come from three different continents, and thus resounds with the central theme of the book fair and the Slavic Garden – love.
Young Ukrainian author Sofia Andrukhovych talked with Ivana Peruško, programme manager of the Slavic Garden, about her latest novel Amadoca, which has recently been released in Croatian translation. She also stressed the importance of Slavic literary contacts and mutual translations for her own creative work.
At the literary evening Amort or destructive love Jasmina Vojvodić, professor of Russian literature, Russian director Vasily Senjin, who recently put on stage his rendition of Dostoevsky’s novel Idiot at the Croatian National Theatre, and the leading actress of said theatre, Jadranka Đokić, talked about Dostoevsky, his writing and how it is translated to the stage. Ms Đokić also prepared a special treat for the viewers and concluded the evening with a monologue by Nastasya Filippovna, the novel’s principal heroine.
