Neven Vulić, Moderna vremena on Deserter

What one notices from the very beginning when reading The Deserter is an enviable literary skill and baroque language, vivid and playful: readily recognizable Telećan’s style … With his sumptuous style, in terms of his motifs and sensibility Telećan still follows his own track, focused upon the parts of the world he’s interested in. On the micro- and macro-level of this novel his old obsessions are more or less evoked, yet some new ones also arise, in a way which is utterly pleasurable for reading.

 

Croatian program at Frankfurt Book Fair 2015

The Laughter of Freedom


Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia Program at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2015
in cooperation with the association KURS from Split / Croatia and with the literary agency
Sandorf from Zagreb / Croatia

October 14-18, 2015

This year at the Frankfurt Book Fair Croatia will be presented with the following Program:
- The Book The Laughter of Freedom – Introduction to the Feral Tribune by Boris Pavelić (released by the publishing house Adamić from Rijeka) – on the history of Feral Tribune newspaper, which has undergone great success in Croatia in a short time. Interesting to the international public, Feral was well known all over Europe for the “laughter of freedom”. Daily newspaper in Frankfurt, the Frankfurter Rundschau with the financial support of Allianz Kulturstiftung Foundation in Berlin, on the eve of the opening of this year's Book Fair in Frankfurt, will publish a feuilleton dedicated to the Feral Tribune, in which excerpts from the book The Laughter of Freedom in German will be published with a chronological overview of the history of Feral, and some articles of the Feral Tribune's most respected journalists.
On the Croatian stand, the promotion of the book The Laughter of Freedom - Introduction to the Feral Tribune will take place, and on Frankfurter Rundschau stand, discussion on freedom of satire in times of war and nationalism will take place. In Senckenberg Museum in Frankfurt on Thursday 15th of October discussion will be held on satire and freedom of the media, and on the same place on Friday 16th discussion on subject "The World in a state of permanent crisis: What Europe can learn from the former Yugoslavia?". After discussion, the duo Lucić-Dežulović will perform satirical musical performance “Singing and dancing through Euroslavija”. Darko Vidović from Frankfurt provided a great help to the organizers with the presentation of the program related to Feral.
- On the Croatian stand the Austrian author Ruth Cerha will present her novel Bora. The story about the wind; This promotion is organized in cooperation with the publisher Frankfurter Verlagsanstalt.

- Last year Banquet for international publishers, agents, writers, translators and other guests was extremely well attended, and this year it will be held on the second day of the fair at the Croatian stand, starting at 5:00 p.m.
- On Saturday, on the Croatian stand, there will be presentation of the magazine for the cultural life Croatian origin migrants in Germany Riječ - The Word.

Thursday, October 15, 2015
* Time: 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
* Place: Croatian stand, Hall 5.0 D117
Promotion of the book: The Laughter of freedom - Introduction to the Feral Tribune" by Boris Pavelić
Participants: The founders of Feral and journalists Viktor Ivančić, Boris Dežulović and Predrag Lucić, and author of The Laughter of freedom Boris Pavelić
Moderation: Danijel Majić (Journalist, Frankfurter Rundschau)
Translation: Alida Bremer

Thursday, October 15, 2015
* Time: 5:00 p.m. – open end
* Place: Croatian stand, Hall 5.0 D117
Happy Hour at the Croatian stand!
Banquet for literary agents, publishers, writers, translators and other visitors of the Croatian stand

Thursday, October 15, 2015
* Time: 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
* Place: Bistro im Senckenberg Museum
Senckenberganlage 25
60325 Frankfurt am Main
Panel: Is this allowed? On freedom of satire and media
Participants: Viktor Ivančić, Boris Dežulović, Predrag Lucić and journalist of the Berlin Tageszeitung (taz) Doris Akrap
Moderation: Wolfgang Klotz (Director of the Central and Eastern European Online Library)
Translation: Alida Bremer

Friday, October 16, 2015
* Time: 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
* Place: Croatian stand, Hall 5.0 D117
Promotion: The Gritch Witch
Promoter: Vinko Grubišić (Jadran film, Zagreb)

Friday, October 16, 2015
* Time: 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
* City: Croatian stand, Hall 5.0 D117
Promotion: Ruth Cerha reads from her novel Bora. Eine Geschichte vom Wind (Bora. The story of the wind) (Frankfurter Verlagsanstalt, 2015)
Moderation: Alida Bremer
- Readers and critics have been delighted with the new novel of the Austrian writer whose story takes place on one of the Croatian islands in the northern Adriatic. In the novel, various stories are skillfully interwoven. Those include stories about history of the island and migration, former residents who went away from the island for various reasons - personal, political or economic, then about the new nomad-artists like narrator herself - who escapes from Vienna to the island in search of herself, but also in search of love, and at the end there is also story about bora and the Mediterranean cuisine.

Friday, October 16, 2015
* Time: 2:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
* Place: daily newspapers Frankfurter Rundschau Stand, Hall 3.1 C48
Discussion: Freedom and satire in times of war and nationalism
Participants: Viktor Ivančić, Boris Dežulović and Predrag Lucić
Moderation: Danijel Majić (journalist, Frankfurter Rundschau)
Translation: Alida Bremer

Friday, October 16, 2015
* Time: 8:00 p.m. – Open End
* Place: Bistro im Senckenberg Museum
Senckenberganlage 25
60325 Frankfurt am Main
Once to Europe and back: An Evening with Feral makers
1) Discussion: The world in a state of permanent crisis: What Europe can learn from the former Yugoslavia?
Participants: Michael Thoss (Director of the Foundation Allianz Kulturstiftung Berlin), Viktor Ivančić, Boris Dežulović and Predrag Lucić
Moderation and translation: Alida Bremer
2) Singing and dancing through Euroslavija
Satirical music performance by Boris Dežulović and Predrag Lucić
Translation: Alida Bremer
3) Party with DJ Semjuel
Saturday, November 17, 2015
* Time: 12:00 to 13:00
* Place: Croatian stand, Hall 5.0 D117

Saturday, October 17, 2015
Riječ, The word
Presentation of the magazine about the cultural life of Croatian origin migrants in Germany

Participants: Mirjana Erstić (literary scholar), Luka Ilić (theologian), Ivica Košak (one of the publishers of the magazine, president of the Croatian Cultural Association in Wiesbaden), Ana Kramarić (Editor in chief of the journal Word)
Moderation: Aleksandra Brnetić (journalist)

Presentation of Croatian literature within Europa Pavilion at the Madrid Book Fair

The Ministry of Culture and Media, in cooperation with the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia in Madrid, organized the presentation of Croatian literature within the Europa Pavilion program at the Madrid Book Fair on May 31st, 2023.

Olja Savičević, Roman Simić, and Dinko Telećan talked about the contemporary Croatian and literary scene and presented their works intended for readers of all ages – poetry, novels, and short stories as well as children’s books, picture books, and novels – at the event moderated by Nikolina Židek, translator and university professor in Madrid. After excerpts readings of their works in Croatian and Spanish and a conversation with the visitors, a screening of the short feature films based on the stories of Olja Savičević also took place – "Balavica" by Igor Mirković and "Trešnje" by Dubravka Turić.

Mihaela Majcen – Marinić, head of the Book and Publishing Service of the Ministry of Culture and Media, attended the program on behalf of the Ministry of Culture and Media, joined by the translators of Croatian literature into Spanish, Luisa Garrido and Tihomir Pistelek, and the writer Branka Primorac.

The Madrid Book Fair (Feria del Libro) is an important and well-attended cultural event that offers visitors direct access to new titles, authors, and publishers and promotes reading, knowledge, and skills related to literature and language. It's held at the end of May, in Madrid's largest park, Retiro.

Followed by a successful trial edition in 2022, this year's Europa Pavilion at the Madrid Book Fair takes place from May 26th to June 13th, 2023, with more than 60 different activities.

Find out more about the program: https://www.ferialibromadrid.com/sobre-la-feria/

 

News Frankfurt 2015

Frankfurt, 09/10/2015 - According to the Association of American Publishers (AAP), in the first six months of 2015, sales of e-books in the US fell by 10 percent, yet e-books’ share of total book sales remains stable at 20 percent. Comparatively, in 2014, this segment was still growing by 3.8 percent. AAP analysts point to three reasons for this decrease in sales: In 2014, only 12 million e-readers were sold, compared to 20 million in 2011; more and more e-book readers are relying on tablets and smartphones to consume content. Another reason is price development: The industry’s “Big Five” have raised the average price of an e-book to over 11 US dollars – at the same level as the price of a paperback. Finally, the third reason identified is the lack of any blockbusters.

Overall, publishers’ book sales for the first half of the year were down 4.1 percent at $5.58 billion compared to $5.82 billion for the first six months in 2014. These numbers include sales for all tracked categories (Trade - fiction/non-fiction/religious, K-12 Instructional Materials, Higher Education Course Materials, Professional Publishing, and University Presses). Publishers net revenue is tracked monthly by the Association of American Publishers (AAP) and includes sales data from more than 1,200 publishers.

The US book market – with particular attention to the e-book market – is one of seven markets that will be examined at THE MARKETS – Global Publishing Summit (www.themarkets2015.com), the conference to kick off the Frankfurt Book Fair on Tuesday, 13 October 2015. During this one-day event, industry experts from the respective regions will provide exclusive insight into their markets and valuable first-hand knowledge. “With THE MARKETS, we’re helping our clients tap into business potential, recognize prospective areas for business and make personal contacts”, says Juergen Boos, Director of the Frankfurt Book Fair. Speakers include Ralph Lazaro, Vice President, Digital Products Group at Findaway, Joan O’Neil, Senior Vice President & Managing Director, Knowledge Services Group at Wiley, Neil Balthaser, Technology Business Executive, Intellogo, Chantal Restivo-Alessi, Chief Digital Officer HarperCollins Publishers and Jonathan Stolper, SVP and Managing Director, Nielsen Book and many more.

Digital Publishing 2.0 – on the verge of the next dimension?

Industry observers like Joe Wikert, Director of Strategy and Business Development for Olive Software and a speaker at THE MARKETS, however, do not believe it will be a long-term slump: “The levelling out of the e-book market has to some extent stumped publishers and has raised the question of whether the print sector can offset the digital downturn.” Wikert calls this state of affairs the “print under glass era” and recommends initiating the next phase of development with “Digital Publishing 2.0” instead. He told the trade magazine buchreport: “Start-ups are going to play an increasingly important role in the digital market. Unlike traditional publishers, they aren’t paralysed by the ‘innovator’s dilemma’. The industry’s large publishers should pay more attention to this start-up community.”

Children’s and young adult books have great impact on overall sales

The dramatic downturn in ebook sales in the first half of 2015 is largely due to the decline in ebook sales in the Children’s/YA category. While overall trade decline was slightly more than 10 percent, the Childrens/YA market sector was down 45.5 percent. Compared to the first half of 2014, where there was significant growth (28.1 percent) in this category for ebooks due to the success of books in the Frozen and Divergent series.

Despite the stagnating ebook sales, trade sales for the first half of 2015 are down only 1.4 percent year-over-year 2014. Downloaded audio is taking the place of ebooks as the fastest-growing format with 31.0 percent growth and paperbacks are also seeing some increased sales with 12.5 percent growth over 2014.

In professional publishing for books and journals, sales are up 16.6 percent in the first half of 2015, though University Press sales are down 2.3 percent. For the education market, PreK-12 instructional materials saw incredibly growth in 2014 (17.2 percent over 2013), but, at the start of 2015, these sales were down by 10.8 percent. Higher Education course materials are also down 9.1 percent.

Overview of the US book market
Sales (Jan-June 2015): $5.58 billion
Sales (2014): $27.99 billion
E-books sold in 2014: 510 million
Hardbacks sold in 2014: 568 million
Print titles (2013): 304,912 titles
Self-published titles (2013): 458,564 (+17 per cent)

Source: http://book-fair.com/en/

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