28th BOOK FAIR(Y) IN ISTRIA
Pula Festival of Books and Authors

Theme: Going Back

25th November – 4th December 2022
House of Croatian Defenders

For the 28th edition of the Pula Festival of Books and Authors, the central theme of Going Back was not chosen only because of the literal act of moving in space; neither solely for the possibility – finally! – to realize the Fair in the format established at the beginning of this century nor just because of some symbolic significance, although, if we don't count the time of the pandemic, the year 2022 marked the twentieth anniversary since the House of Croatian Defenders also became the House of the Fair.

The return is always – no matter the reason for leaving – painful, and it reveals the fact that nothing can ever be or will be how it used to be. The great, significant, and artistically potent theme perfectly matched the timing of the return to the great authors, extensive productions, and big, everlastingly big ambitions.

Eva Menasse, Kapka Kassabova, Sofi Oksanen, Marta Barone, Kassima, Boris Buden, Semezdin Mehmedinović, Ivana Šojat, Selvedin Avdić, Katalin Ladik, Dejan Dukovski, Srđan Karanović, Rajko Grlić, Nedjeljko Dragić, Max Neuman, Davide Toffolo, Tamara Obrovac, Milan Rakovac, Boris Dežulović, Viktor Ivančić, Dragan Velikić, Goran Vojnović, Predrag Finci are only some of the names participating in the Fair that celebrated freedom after years of restrictions by marking the 70th anniversary of Pula Film Festival, half a century of Animafest and hundredth anniversary of Pier Paolo Pasolini's birth.

Everything was there – children's programs, representative program formats held in an exemplary environment, a large number of publishers and displayed books, tens of thousands of visitors – yet, nothing was the same. Apart from the rule that no edition of the Fair can be of lesser quality than the last one, and apart from the wish that each and every Fair is even better than the previous one.