20th BOOK FAIR(Y) IN ISTRIA
Pula Festival of Books and Authors

Theme: 1914

4th – 14th December 2014
House of Croatian Defenders

In the year that marked the hundredth anniversary of the beginning of the First World War, the jubilee 20th Book Fair(y) in Istria was dedicated to the unfortunate 1914, the year that showed how short and bloody the 20th century be, but also marked the peak of the urban development of Pula. During the eleven days of the Fair, the central theme, in all of its complexity, was explored through 100 events – promotions of books and authors, round tables, panel discussions, specialist congresses, exhibitions, performances, film screenings, and concerts.

The genre in focus was the ninth art – the comic books, while the central theme of the Fair, for the first time in a direct, immediate manner, rendered Pula - once the largest military harbor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire – a focal point, explored from culturological, sociological, anthropological, urbanistic angles.

Naturally, Sarajevo – the city that went in the history of human civilization because of the year 1914 – was one of the inevitable subjects. Mostly young Bosnian-Herzegovinian authors who live abroad yet constantly refer to their homeland in their literary works were presented. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was discussed, in a critical and scientific manner, at panel discussions, round tables, lectures, book promotions, and presentations of magazines, books, and collections of papers.
Although this year marked the jubilee of the Fair, the focal point of this edition was not the continuity, but the inventiveness in the field of program formats the Fair is known for, such as Breakfast With the Author, Berti's Program – Love At Second Sight, Twilight Reading, A Talk Behind the Curtain, Unearthed Istria, Author Reads Author, Black and White Seas and The Other Coast/ L'altra costa, while the International Conference „Publishing: Trends and Contexts“ was dedicated to the digital authors and electronic books.

In the salons of the House of Croatian Defenders, around 300 Croatian and foreign publishers displayed more than 15,000 titles that could be seen and purchased by almost 80,000 visitors.