The fifth Festival of Slavic Literatures took place in Ljubljana, Maribor, and Celje from 14 to 16 April 2026 and was ceremonially marked this year by the 20th anniversary of the 100 Slavic Novels collection.

As in previous years, the festival hosted established Slavic authors, translators, and literary scholars, reaffirming its role as an important platform for literary dialogue, translation, and intercultural exchange.

The central part of the festival took place in Ljubljana at the Faculty of Arts, where discussions were held with several key authors of contemporary Slavic literatures: Andrej Nikolaidis, Robert Perišić, Dragan Velikić, Venko Andonovski, Zdravko Evtimova, Monika Kompaníková, and Vlado Žabot.

The discussions addressed questions of the contemporary novel, translation, the relationship between fiction and reality, and literary developments within Slavic literatures. Special attention was also devoted to the 100 Slavic Novels collection—its development, mythopoetic foundations, and its significance for the cultural space of Slavic countries.

As part of the festival, the international editorial board of the Festival of Slavic Literatures met to discuss the further development of the collection and programmatic guidelines for the coming period.

In cooperation with the Slovenian Association of Literary Translators, a translation workshop was led by Russian translator Tatjana Žarova. Together with students, they focused on her translation of the novel The Miraculous Felix by Andrej Hieng.

As part of the festival programme, writer Venko Andonovski also met with students of the Secondary School of Design and Photography in Ljubljana.

Festival events were once again held in Maribor. In cooperation with the Maribor Library and the University Library Maribor, discussions were organised with Dragan Velikić and Andrej Nikolaidis. The authors presented their works, including the novels Russian Window and Mimesis, which are included in the 100 Slavic Novels collection, and spoke about their literary oeuvre.

The festival concluded at the Central Library Celje with a discussion featuring Dragan Velikić.

The fifth Festival of Slavic Literatures once again confirmed its role as an important platform for the promotion of Slavic literatures, this time also among young audiences.

Event partners: Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana (Department of Slavic Studies), Maribor Library, University Library Maribor, Central Library Celje, Secondary School of Design and Photography, Slovenian Association of Literary Translators.