27th BOOK FAIR(Y) IN ISTRIA
Pula Festival of Books and Authors

Theme: Love

19th - 28th November 2021
Knitwear Factory Arena

Since the end of the pandemic wasn't yet proclaimed at the time, the Book Fair(y) in Istria couldn't take place in the House of Croatian Defenders, but in all of those venues that hosted the last one. Just this time there was no Mediterranian sun that rendered everything more beautiful. Still, the vaccinations and proofs of vaccination, testing, and fear of every single sneeze couldn't overshadow what was genuinely important – the fact that the Croatian and regional publishers showed how significant the Fair was to them, preferring even the uncomfortable, guerilla edition of the Fair to the option of postponing the Fair until the world returns to its normal state. This being one of 1001 reasons, Love – the emotional state that is manifested also through those acts forbidden for the sake of public health, such as hugs, kisses, intimacy, and life without protective masks – was chosen for the central theme of the Fair.

The return of the guests coming from outside of Croatia, mostly from the area of former Yugoslavia, confirmed that the horror that struck the world is slowly coming to an end. Ukranian writer Sofia Andrukhovych, Slovene writer Gabriela Babnik, Austrian Laura Freudenthaler, Serbian actor and author of the book Stovarište(The Warehouse), and French comic book author Zanzim brought back the usual spirit of that great, glamorous and, for the authors, the most comfortable and comforting Fair.

Certainly one of the most special events was the presentation of the book Pola veka XX veka (Half a Century of XX Century) published as a part of XX Vek (20th Century) book collection, for its titles most fascinating, and for many other reasons the most important book collection in the region. The fifty years of its existence were discussed by its founder and editor, the anthropologist Ivan Čolović, the editor of the book and a historian, Dubravka Stojanović, and philologist Sinan Gudžević.

“The Fair happened, and it was good, but it wasn't that Fair we all know“, said one of its frequent guests. Already the next year, 2022, will prove him right.