We have been waiting for this moment for a long time to meet books and readers, in a public space without distance.
The last Podgorica book and education fair, the 14th in a row, before the coronavirus pandemic now seems as if it took place in another time and in another world.
In the days, weeks and months of great worries and bad news, which slowly piled up in two years of the pandemic, most of all we missed meetings and conversations, socializing and places where we can gather.
In both better and worse circumstances, a person needs another, someone with whom he can see and talk with all the openness and trust that is possible among people. Such meetings without any distance have always been a human need. That need has not disappeared despite the pandemic, which we hope we have left behind.
One such meeting in which we do not need any distance is the Book Fair. Book fairs are an old European heritage. They have always been a place for meetings and conversations, an opportunity to deepen existing experiences with new books, and to meet old questions with new answers. Perhaps we need such meetings today more than ever.
Even during the pandemic, both as Nova Knjiga and as the Podgorica Book and Education Fair, we tried to stay in touch with readers, to delight them with new books and proven values. In the fall of last year, while we were still under masks, after a one-year break, we organized the Book Fair and we were touched by the dedication of our readers.
Just as we were touched by all the messages we received during the pandemic from readers who were wondering if and when the Book Fair would be held again and if they could expect new books.
These messages are encouraging and binding. They were the main incentive for us to organize the Podgorica Book and Education Fair this spring without distance, but with a great desire to meet with readers and writers, with fellow publishers from Montenegro and the region.
That meeting begins tonight and will continue in the days ahead. We couldn't wait for that meeting and I am convinced that we are not alone in that.
I believe that, once again, it will be shown how much this Book Fair is needed by the city where it is held, and the country where it is organized, and the region to which it has been continuously open for all these 17 years.
The Podgorica Book Fair quickly gained the support of readers and the culture of the public in Podgorica and Montenegro, as well as in the region. The organization of such a Fair is a very big challenge, but it was always easier for us when we knew that the readers were looking forward to the Fair and that it would be visited in large numbers by people of different generations, views on the world, professions and interests.
Without the support of readers, the Book Fair would not have lived a full life, nor would it have become a cultural institution.
When Nova Knjiga started organizing the International Podgorica Book and Education Fair 17 years ago, we wanted to offer an event that was lacking in our cultural environment at that time.
After 17 years, we have a book fair that is an important event for regional publishers, a book fair that is a big promotional platform for cultural and educational institutions in Montenegro - from libraries, through museums, galleries and archives, to schools and colleges, a book fair that is a big festival contemporary literature and a favorite event in the public and cultural life of Montenegro.
Let's indulge in books and literary and cultural events at the Podgorica Book and Education Fair, without distance.
I wish you to enjoy the Fair and its programs, and first of all to find books at the Fair that you will learn from and that you will enjoy, books with which you will become different and with which you will better understand the world we live in, and in which we would like to we enjoy it more.
The Podgorica Book and Education Fair is one such opportunity to enjoy.
(Speech from the opening of the Fair)
Bonus video:
