Rock and roll and literature dominate the Book Fair, Bajaga at the opening

In addition to the slogan "Rely on the book", this year's 19th International Podgorica Book and Education Fair will mark a unique blend of rock and roll and literature, announced the director of the publishing house "Nova knjiga" at yesterday's press conference. Predrag Uljarević.

The fair runs from May 7th to 13th, every day from 11 am to 21.30:XNUMX pm in the adapted garage space of the "Big Fashion" shopping center in Podgorica, announced the spokeswoman. Jelena Bozovic. The ticket price is two euros, while one euro is required for group visits.

The first of a series of promotions at the Fair will be held on the first day of the Fair at 15 pm... One of the iconic Yugoslav musicians, the leader of the group "Bajaga i instruktori" which is still one of the most successful rock bands of all time from this region, Momcilo Bajagic Bajaga will present his recently published book "Poems". The event moderator is Jelena Krsmanović, The promotion will be followed by a book signing, for which the popular Bajaga will also set aside time the next day, from 12:13 to XNUMX:XNUMX PM at the "Nova knjiga" stand, so that everyone interested can get their copy.

"The monograph brings us 160 poems and the same number of photographs from various periods of the author's career. The book also includes handwritten poems, which differ from the poems we know. This book is a unique insight into the work of one of the most important musicians in the Balkans, bringing emotion and inspiration in its most authentic form," it was announced on social media.

The opening ceremony of the Fair will be held on May 13 at XNUMX p.m., in the Chamber Hall of the Music Center of Montenegro in Podgorica, when the attendees will be addressed by the Minister of Culture and Media, the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation, and the Capital City of Podgorica. Tamara Vujović i Anđela Jakšić Stojanović, mayor of Podgorica Saša Mujović, as well as the Vice President of Bulgaria Iliana Yotova, Uljarević as the founder of the Fair, while the program will be hosted by an actress Isidora Citizen.

The artistic segment of the program will be officially opened at the fairgrounds at 15 p.m., when Montenegrin writer Aleksandar Bečanović, winner of the European Union Prize for Literature, who prepared "Sermon" for the occasion, will address the audience, while the moderator will be actress Građanin.

At yesterday's press conference, Uljarević announced interesting guests and the complete program, recalling that Bulgaria is this year's guest of honor.

"During the Fair, Podgorica will be the main literary center in the region, a meeting place for writers, publishers, and book lovers, and additionally because this year's Fair brings a fairly diverse program with a special emphasis on international cooperation and certain thematic units. The guest of honor of this year's Fair is Bulgaria, which is an honor and pleasure for us, because we will host some of the most important names in contemporary Bulgarian literature and organize some other programs. In addition, every year at the Fair we have some special thematic units and one of the things we are doing this year is connecting, that is, we are talking about rock and roll and poetry, rock and roll and literature, so we will also have numerous important names from the region. Bajaga will present his new book that has just been released, which includes his songs that he wrote, sang, either for himself or for other performers. As part of this unit, we will have a guest appearance and Zoran Kostić Canet from Partibrejkers, as well as some of the most important literary critics from the region, such as Petar Jenjatovic, Petar Peca Popovic... We will also have a special program about rock and roll in Montenegro. That is a kind of novelty that we will have this year. We will host some of the most important names in regional literature," announced Uljarević, among other things.

The Bulgarian stand will be opened on the same day at 17 pm. This was announced yesterday by the Bulgarian Ambassador to Montenegro, Stefan Dimitrov, expressing hope and belief that it will interest the audience and increase attendance at the event.

"As the guest of honor of the Fair, Bulgaria will offer not only a diverse program, but also, I dare say, an exceptionally high-quality one. This is made possible thanks to the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Bulgaria. Vice President Yotova and our Minister of Culture Marijan Bacev, "together with their teams, they will attend the opening of the Fair at 13 pm, the opening of the Bulgarian stand at 17 pm, as well as the official opening of the Days of Bulgarian Culture event at the Music Center of Montenegro, which will be accompanied by a concert by the Pleven Philharmonic Orchestra," announced Dimitrov.

The Ambassador took the opportunity to remind that on the same day, a street named after him will be ceremonially opened in Cetinje. Ivana Vazova, and he discovered that soon he would Petar II Petrovic Njegos in Veliko Tarnovo to get their own street.

"Vice President of our country Ilijana Jotova and the mayor of the capital Nikola Đurašković, will open Ivan Vazov Street. Who is Ivan Vazov and why in Cetinje? He is the patriarch of Bulgarian literature, a poet, writer, playwright, academician, and Minister of Culture who lived and worked from 1850 to 1921. He is the only foreign artist who wrote a poem about Montenegro in 1877, immediately after the Montenegrins defeated a large army at Vučji dol in the famous battle. He himself, Ivan Vazov, was a fighter for the liberation of his homeland. In addition, a street in Veliko Tarnovo will soon be named after your Ivan Vazov, Petar II Petrovic Njegoš. Both cities are called the capitals and have similar significance in the history of both countries. I would also like to emphasize that this year marks 1160 years since the conversion of the Bulgarian people and 1170 years since the emergence of Bulgarian script and Slavic literature. "The exhibition "Alphabet and History" presents the stages in the development of the Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabets, and will be opened at the Bulgarian stand, by Vice President Yotova at 17 p.m. at the Podgorica Fair," said Dimitrov.

The Ambassador pointed out that the cultural program they prepared can be grouped and presented as: three concerts, two exhibitions, theater, literature, education...

"We will present writers at the Fair Zdravka Evtimova i Georgija Brdarova, "We will also present the Faculty of German Engineering and Industrial Management FDIBA at our stand, because, as the name suggests, the fair encompasses both books and education. Throughout the event, visitors to our stand will have the opportunity to enjoy various exhibitions dedicated to the rich history and culture of Bulgaria, as well as to try traditional Bulgarian food and drink," said Dimitrov.

The fair brings a rich all-day program and a number of famous names, as well as numerous "premieres" of literary works... Guests of the fair will also be some of the most important writers from Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina...

"From Croatia we have Ivica Ivanišević i Zoran Žmirić As one of the most sought-after Croatian writers, we have a winner of the NIN award from Serbia Marinka Arsica Ivkova i Tanja Stupar, there are also exceptional writers such as Milan Ruzic, Vladimir Kecmanovic, Dejan Stojiljkovic and many others. As every year, we have certain programs dedicated to theater, and we have the special pleasure of watching a cult play Zijah Sokolović "'An actor is...an actor...is an actor,'" Uljarević announced, among other things.

Among the guests will be: Fedja Štukan, Lana Bastašić, Muharem Bazdulj, Petar Penda, Ivan Negrišorac, Obrad Nenezić, Vladimir Kecmanović, Vladimir Vučković, Vesna Trijić, Aleksandar Ćuković, Sonja Tomović Šundić, Duško Babić, Ljubica Arsić, Aleksandra Mihajlović, Brona Žakelj, Radinko Krulanović, but and Srdan Kosovic, Biljana Todorovic, Nebojsa Medojevic, Miljan Mijuskovic, as well as Marko Kovacevic.

Fair spokesperson Jelena Božović previously announced that a program dedicated to the recently deceased Nobel laureate would also be held. To Mario Vargas Llosa, whom she pointed out is a friend of the International Podgorica Book and Education Fair, as well as the president of the jury, co-founder and first winner of the International Literary Award "Literary Flame".

"His departure saddens many readers around the world, and this year the Book Fair will hold a sales exhibition of his works, but will also show a film that was filmed during his visit to Montenegro," Božović announced.

The documentary film presents an interesting testimony about the stay of the world-famous writer and Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa in Montenegro in 2015, at the invitation of his Montenegrin publisher "Nova knjiga" from Podgorica. On that occasion, Llosa had several meetings with readers, visited Budva, where he opened the Book Fair as part of the Grad teatar festival, and held his literary evening.

Director of the 19th International Podgorica Book and Education Fair Ivana Ivanovic She said earlier that all visitors, as before, can expect a rich and diverse artistic program with over a hundred publishers from Montenegro, the region and the world, almost a hundred program contents and more than 200 participants in them: authors, translators, critics, moderators and cultural workers.

"In addition to the literary program within the book fair, we are continuing with various exhibitions, theater performances, as well as the participation of prominent actors and artists from the region, thereby further expanding the cultural offer of the fair," emphasized Ivanović.