Ljubka’s Trail, a cross-border literary trail celebrating poetry and equality, is a project of the Forum of Slavic Culturesand the Lojze Bratuž Cultural Centre. It connects European initiatives such as the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe and the European Capital of Culture ECOC GO! 2025 Nova Gorica – Gorizia.
The choice of Ljubka Šorli and the women writers of Goriška as the central theme of the project naturally calls for cross-border collaboration. Born in Tolmin, where she spent most of her childhood, Ljubka Šorli later moved to Gorizia, where she remained for the rest of her life, leaving a profound impact on the cultural life of the Slovenian minority in Italy.
Her legacy extends across both sides of the border, a duality reflected in her poetry, as seen in the titles of her collections Goriške pesmi (Gorizia Poems) and Tolminske pesmi (Tolmin Poems). Following in her footsteps, this literary trail is inherently cross-border. Many of the women writers who lived and worked in the Goriška region at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, and who are now part of this cultural-tourist route, were not confined to a single locality. Beyond the absence of strict borders at the time, their literary work was deeply cosmopolitan. They embraced the region’s cultural and linguistic diversity, drawing inspiration from it and often acting as mediators between different languages and cultures.
Following the life, artistic journey, and historical legacy of Ljubka Šorla and other women writers of the Goriška region, the route highlights literary figures who have been largely unknown, forgotten, or marginalized. Their contributions are scarcely found in historical records, literary archives, and textbooks.
Dedicated to the role and representation of women in society, Ljubka’s Trail unveils a hidden regional history, shedding light on the voices and stories that have long remained in the shadows.
