Book Fair(y) in Istria
Every December, the city of Pula comes alive with a major literary event – the Book Fair Sa(n)jam knjige u Istri. Alongside book and publisher promotions and special sales, the fair buzzes with a wide range of activities. Particularly popular are the author meet-and-greets and roundtable discussions. Throughout the city, accompanying exhibitions, concerts, and theatrical performances create the vibrant atmosphere of a true book festival.
Book Fair(y) in Istria was born in 1995 out of a bold gesture of one man to call a small book exhibition ‘at the end of the world’ the 1st Book Fair(y) in Istria. Today’s festival of books and authors is relevant and acknowledged on the Croatian, European and global level, original and authentic in its ways of presenting book-related content, in opening a space for a dialogue between authors and authors, between authors and readers, in setting cornerstones for an evaluation of tradition and contemporaneity. Therefore and moreover, as a fatal place of faith in oneself.
The Fair(y) displays titles published by over 200 publishers from Croatia and other countries, and books and hundreds of events attract up to 60,000 visitors.
Discussions, symposiums, panels and roundtables, exhibitions, concerts and theatre performances gather dozens of creative voices, many of which have become part of the cultural memory of the city which does not lack in culture of memory: Umberto Eco, Orhan Pamuk, Péter Esterházy, Luko Paljetak, Claudio Magris, Alī Aḥmad Sa‘īd Asbar – Adonis, Irvin Welsh, Tess Gallagher, Nedjeljko Fabrio, Jiří Menzel, Alberto Manguel, Lyudmila Ulitskaya, Mirko Kovač, Daniel Dennett, Dragutin Tadijanović, Ece Temelkuran, Tatyana Tolstaya, Alexander Genis, Lyudmila Petrushevskaya, Oksana Zabuzhko, Erri De Luca…
Today, the Sa(n)jam knjige u Istri Book Fair stands as the largest author-focused book fair in Croatia and the biggest author festival in the wider region, firmly placing Pula and Istria on the European and global literary, cultural, and artistic map. It all began in December 1995, when Boško Obradović and his collaborators launched the fair at the Pula Forum. The event’s significance lies not only in celebrating books and literature and promoting reading but also in the vital role the fair plays—transcending its local origins to earn a prominent place among the world’s literary festivals.
“The Pula Book Fair, as a microcosm where the soul and essence of sustaining civilization find their place, is like that single drop of wine that colours the entire ocean — a drop capable of transforming the world into what it should be: a place where countless people live in peace, prosperity, and dignity,” emphasized Dutch philosopher Rob Riemen in an essay written to honor the 30th Book Fair held in 2024.
