Ljubljana: Ivo Andrić festival commenced

At the opening, First Counsellor at the Embassy of the Republic of Serbia in Slovenia and writer Aleksandar Gatalica, Director of the National Library of Serbia and writer Vladimir Pištalo, and professor of the Faculty of Philosophy in Ljubljana Vladimir Osolnik spoke about Andrić as a writer.

The two writers pointed out that Andrić's work continued to be a model for generations of Serbian writers and that Andrić, as the only Nobel laureate in the region, was a writer who had laid not only the foundation of Serbian literature, but also of all other literature in this region.

Professor Osolnik referred to the multiple connections between Andrić and Slovenia, how Andrić wrote about Slovenia and Slovenians in his „Signs by the Roadside“, and how often and gladly he used to come to Ljubljana and Bled.

Vladimir Pištalo read parts of his book about Andrić entitled „The Sun of Today“ and noted that the moment has come to separate Andrić from the stereotypes that were surrounding him. Pistalo pointed out that Andrić was a passionate man, a writer of thoughtful and reflective, rather than realistic literature. He left a sufficiently spacious literary house in his books, such that even today it is comfortable enough for new generations of completely different Serbian writers of the 21^st century, Pištalo stated.

The evening was concluded with questions from the audience and an informal conversation between students of the Supplementary School of the Serbian Language and Serbian writers.