Writers Say: “100 Slavic Novels Series is Very Valuable”
On the threshold of a new year the meeting of the Forum of Slavic Cultures and the writers from the Slovenian 100 Slavic Novels list took place. They agreed that this literary project is something special and that they will be delighted to take part in the evnets marking the 15th anniversary of the foundation.
100 Slavic Novels is the oldest project of the international foundation and brings together 108 writers from 9 Slavic countries. 75 novels have so far been published in the series. The writers at the meeting agreed that it is a unique project that deserves more attention from the general and professional public as well as media. Drago Jančar, award-winning and one of the most translated Slovenian authors wrote in his reflection on the series: “In the past we used to get hold of translations from the literary cosmos beyond the so-called iron curtain more or less through ‘bypass’ channels delivering their English, German or French resonances, but now they have come to us in the 100 Slavic Novels collection – in Slovene and virtually all Slavic languages – with the authors and novels selected at the discretion of translators and editors based on their sensibility and the quality of the novels.” Other writers as well share Jančar’s view that the series is very valuable. “… we also cannot overlook its role in the convergence between cultures of different nations and their native states, where the ideological disputes and nationalistic hatred transformed once overwhelming enthusiasm for Slavhood and Slavic “mutuality” of the 19th century into more or less nothing but cultural ruins, as well as actual ruins left behind by violent military confrontations,” wrote Jančar.