21st BOOK FAIR(Y) IN ISTRIA
Pula Festival of Books and Authors

Theme: Island-Ghetto-Asylum

3rd – 13th December 2015
House of Croatian Defenders

In the Balkans, the past never rests, while in the rest of the world, that can also be said for the present. Since its founding, the Book Fair(y) in Istria – Festival of Books and Authors has always stayed away from the impacts of the daily, revisionist politics and brought down the walls between the quotidian and permanently significant political issues whereas, in the year 2015, it reflected the present and the future of our world. The suffering of thousands of migrants on their long journey towards a better life inspired the central theme of the Fair – Island-Ghetto-Asylum – whereas the spirit of the Fair stayed faithful to its roots. "It is not a trade fair, a discount bookstore. It is not even a fair in the real sense of the word. It is a festival where significance is given to the authors and their books.“ - Ivica Ivanišević said, adding that the biggest flaw of the Fair is that one has to return to reality after its ending.

This very reality, be it local, regional or global, was discussed directly – in the panel discussions and round tables – and indirectly, through the presentation of the most recent titles by many prominent authors, to only mention some: Erri De Luca, Jón Kalman Stefánsson, Jurij Viničuk, Oleksandr Irvanec, Joachim Sartorius, Benjamin Flao, Sylvain Coissard, Dragan Velikić, Miljenko Jergović, Alem Ćurin, Marina Vujčić, Andrea Matošević, Igor Duda, Jasna Žmak, Milan Rakovac, Jurica Pavičić, Zoran Ferić, Predrag Lucić, Zvonko Maković, Slobodan Šijan, Božo Koprivica, Vesna Goldsvorti, etc.

More than 150 authors from Croatia and abroad participated in the Fair programs, 250 publishers, 30 of them from Serbia, displayed their books, while the number of visitors showed a 30 percent rise.