15th BOOK FAIR(Y) IN ISTRIA
Pula Festival of Books and Authors

Pula in the Orbit

4th – 13th December 2009
House of Croatian Defenders

The cancellation of the main sponsor just three weeks before the opening and the grave financial crisis of the Book Fair(y) that followed left a deep mark on one of the most significant cultural manifestations in Istria and Croatia. A large number of small companies, private persons, and authors donated their services and participated pro bono at the Fair, such as Livio Morosin and Vlado Kreslin, who performed at the opening of the Fair, whilst Morosin also wrote the Fair's anthem.

The Fair was officially proclaimed open by the Argentinian writer with a Canadian passport, the great Alberto Manguel, the author of the famous A History of Reading, who presented the most recent translation of his book The Library at Night within the scope of the program titled Twilight Reading. This year, more than 300 publishers from Croatia and the region participated in the commercial part of the Fair.

During the ten days of the Fair, 66 programs took place, two of them being especially significant. The main focus of The Librarians' Weekend was the 60th anniversary of the founding of the University Library in Pula. The program Pula in the Orbit created by Dragan Živadinov marked the International Year of Astronomy, the 140th anniversary of the founding of Pula Observatory, and the 80th memorial anniversary of Herman Potočnik Noordung, the pioneer of astronautics who was born in Pula.

The Cyclops Award Ceremony for the year 2009 took place at the grand stage of the main hall of the House of the Croatian Defenders in a manner more modest than the previous years. The Lifetime Achievement Award, founded this year, was given by the Association Book Fair(y) in Istria on the suggestion of the Cyclops Menagerial Bord to Professor Aleksandar Flaker.

The second edition of the Festival of Children's Literature Monte Librić once again took place parallel to the Fair. The whole first floor of the House of Croatian Defenders was transformed into the festival grounds, while one had to pass through a dark and magical tunnel to enter the treasury of words, pictures, and imagination.