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UNESCO Cities of Literature (http://www.cityoiterature.com/cities-of-literature/cities-of-literature/) > Ljubljana

City of Literature: Ljubljana

Ljubljana, Slovenia
Ljubljana became the sixteenth UNESCO City of Literature in December 2015, on the same day as Ulyanovsk
(Russia), Baghdad (Iraq), Tartu (Estonia), Lviv (Ukraine), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Barcelona (Spain),
Nottingham (UK), bidos (Portugal) and Montevideo (Uruguay) joined the Creative Cities Network.
These all join the eleven existing UNESCO Cities of Literature Edinburgh (UK), Melbourne (Australia), Iowa
City (USA), Dublin (Ireland), Reykjavik (Iceland), Norwich (UK), Krakow (Poland), Dunedin (New Zealand),
Prague (Czech Republic), Heidelberg (Germany) and Granada (Spain) to bring the total amount of Cities of
Literature in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network to twenty.
The capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana is home to a population of 283,000 and to a culture of music and arts. The
city hosts over 10,000 cultural events, from prestigious musical, theatre and art events to alternative and
avant-garde events, notably including 14 international festivals.
The largest city in Slovenia, Ljubljana is known for its university culture, its green spaces, particularly Tivoli
Park and many museums, including the National Museum of Slovenia, displaying historic exhibitions, and the
Museum of Modern Art, home to 20th-century Slovene paintings and sculptures.

10 Things to Know about Ljubljana

1. Literary Ljubljana in Numbers

Ljubljana is home to 14 theatres, 35 public libraries, 142 specialised libraries, and 2,628,810 books in the National
and University Library of Slovenia (http://www.nuk.uni-lj.si/nukeng.asp). 284 associations, institutions and
organisations promoting literature have their seat in Ljubljana, including the Slovenian Book Agency, the Slovene
Publishers Society and the Slovenian Association of Literary Translators.

2. 504,000 Residents Cant Be Wrong

Over a quarter of Ljubljanas population are members of the citys public library network. Ljubljana City Library
(http://eng.mklj.si/) has over 81,000 members, giving it the biggest membership of all the libraries in Slovenia. On
average, every inhabitant visits the City Library 5 times per year.
Ljubljanas largest collection of books, the National and University Library of Slovenia, was designed by architect
Joze Plecnik (http://www.slovenia.si/culture/arts/painting-and-architecture/plecniks-ljubljana/) and holds a
collection of works by some of the most important Slovenian poets and writers.

3. A Literary City Since 1112

Ljubljana was rst mentioned in writing in April 1112 and since then it has become the centre of administrative
and cultural life of Slovenia. Primoz Trubar (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primo%C5%BE_Trubar) wrote the rst
Slovene language printed book in Ljubljana in the 16th century. The Slovenska Matica (Slovene Society) is the
oldest still-operating publishing house in Ljubljana, having celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2014. Likewise, the
citys newspaper history dates back over 200 years, when the rst Ljubljana paper, Ljubljanske Novice
(http://www.ljnovice.com/), was published in 1797.

4. Living Literature Festival

Like Edinburgh, Ljubljana prides itself on its festivals. Over 10,000 cultural events take place in the city every year,
among which there are 10 international festivals. The Living Literature Festival
(http://www.culture.si/en/Living_Literature_Festival) has taken place annually since 1994, and remains a free
festival centred on popularising literature and music.
The Slovenian Book Fair (http://www.culture.si/en/Slovene_Book_Fair) takes place in Ljubljana every autumn and
on Midsummers Eve (23 June), a bonre is built on Roznik Hill close to where Slovenian author Ivan Cankar lived
on the outskirts of Ljubljana. The bonre is then lit by the winner of the Kresnik Award
(http://www.culture.si/en/Kresnik_Award), Slovenias most prominent award for novelists.

5. Linhart in Ljubljana
18th century playwright, author and historian Anton Tomaz Linhart lived and worked in Ljubljana, penning the rst
comedy and indeed the rst play ever written in Slovene, Slovenias national tongue. He also helped to set up what
became the National and University Library of Slovenia.

6. Preseren: Ljubljanas poet

19th century poet France Preseren (1800 1849) wrote the rst epic poem in Slovene, elevating the countrys
literature to the level of its European peers. As with Robert Burns and William Wordsworth in Britain and Goethe in
Germany, Preseren was a key gure in the Romantic literary movement in Slovenia. On 8 February the anniversary
of Preserens death is marked by a Slovenian cultural holiday
(http://www.oceholidays.com/countries/slovenia/preseren_day.php), and on 3 December the anniversary of
Preserens birthday is also feted with a Culture Celebration Day (http://www.sloveniatimes.com/birthday-ofslovenia-s-greatest-poet-celebrated-with-free-events), when all the cultural institutions offer free admission. Next
to Plecniks Triple Bridge in central Ljubljana stands a monument dedicated to Preseren.

7. Slovene Modernism
Slovene modernist poet and resident of Ljubljana Srecko Kosovel (1904 1926) articulated the countrys struggle
with identity during the early 20th century. Drawing on Impressionist, Modernist and Constructivist techniques in
his poetry, Kosovel also founded and edited Slovenes most avant-garde literary magazines and is likened to
Federico Garca Lorca in Granada (http://www.cityoiterature.com/cities-of-literature/cities-of-literature/granada/)
for his inuence on his countrys literary output.

8. Ljubljanas Literary Resistance

During World War II, the city was the centre of an illegal literary resistance movement
(http://icorn.org/city/ljubljana) which saw graphic houses printing propaganda but also publishing literary works at
this time of great unrest and distress.
Ljubljana has been a member of the International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN) since 2011.

9. World Book Capital

Ljubljana was named the 10th UNESCO World Book Capital (http://www.slovenia.si/culture/arts/books-andliterature/ljubljanas-year-of-the-book/) in 2010 for one year.
During that year books and reading were the central theme of events and media attention across Slovenia. In that
same year, the city gained a new house of literature named after Primoz Trubar where special events dedicated to
the book, literature and journalism take place every day of the year.
By becoming part of the Creative Cities Network, Ljubljana has now been assigned a permanent City of Literature
designation by UNESCO.

10. Published in Ljubljana

In 2014, 5,300 books were published in Slovenia. Of these, 1,315 were ction titles and 66% of these came from
Ljubljana. This makes Slovenia one of the most prolic nations in terms of the number of published books per
capita.

External Links
Visit the City of Literature section on the citys website. (http://www.ljubljana.si/en/living-inljubljana/focus/75961/detail.html)
UNESCO City of Literature Criteria
(http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/creativity/creative-cities-network/application-

faq/)

Read More About

The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (http://www.cityoiterature.com/cities-ofliterature/creative-city-network/)
The City of Literature designation explained (http://www.cityoiterature.com/cities-ofliterature/the-designation/)
Overview of all Cities of Literature (http://www.cityoiterature.com/cities-of-literature/cities-ofliterature/)
The rst step to join the City of Literature Network (http://www.cityoiterature.com/cities-ofliterature/join-us/)
The UNESCO Cities of Design, Crafts and Folk Art, Media Arts, Music, Film and Gastronomy
(http://www.cityoiterature.com/cities-of-literature/creative-city-network/)

Part of the UNESCO

Creative Cities Network
Cities of Literature

Edinburgh Scotland, UK
(http://www.cityoiterature.com/citiesof-literature/cities-ofliterature/edinburgh/)
Melbourne Australia
(http://www.cityoiterature.com/citiesof-literature/cities-ofliterature/melbourne/)
Iowa City USA
(http://www.cityoiterature.com/citiesof-literature/cities-ofliterature/iowa/)
Dublin Ireland
(http://www.cityoiterature.com/citiesof-literature/cities-ofliterature/dublin/)

Reykjavik Iceland
(http://www.cityoiterature.com/citiesof-literature/cities-ofliterature/reykjavik/)
Norwich England, UK
(http://www.cityoiterature.com/citiesof-literature/cities-ofliterature/norwich/)
Krakow Poland
(http://www.cityoiterature.com/citiesof-literature/cities-ofliterature/krakow/)
Dunedin New Zealand
(http://www.cityoiterature.com/citiesof-literature/cities-ofliterature/dunedin/)
Prague Czech Republic
(http://www.cityoiterature.com/citiesof-literature/cities-ofliterature/prague/)
Heidelberg Germany
(http://www.cityoiterature.com/citiesof-literature/cities-ofliterature/heidelberg/)
Grenada Spain
(http://www.cityoiterature.com/citiesof-literature/cities-ofliterature/grenada/)
Ulyanovsk Russia
(http://www.cityoiterature.com/citiesof-literature/cities-ofliterature/ulyanovsk/)
Baghdad Iraq
(http://www.cityoiterature.com/citiesof-literature/cities-ofliterature/baghdad/)
Tartu Estonia

(http://www.cityoiterature.com/citiesof-literature/cities-ofliterature/tartu/)
Lviv Ukraine
(http://www.cityoiterature.com/citiesof-literature/cities-ofliterature/lviv/)
Ljubljana Slovenia
(http://www.cityoiterature.com/citiesof-literature/cities-ofliterature/ljubljana/)
Barcelona Spain
(http://www.cityoiterature.com/citiesof-literature/cities-ofliterature/barcelona/)
Nottingham England, UK
(http://www.cityoiterature.com/citiesof-literature/cities-ofliterature/nottingham/)
bidos Portugal
(http://www.cityoiterature.com/citiesof-literature/cities-ofliterature/obidos/)
Montevideo Uruguay
(http://www.cityoiterature.com/citiesof-literature/cities-ofliterature/montevideo/)

international news highlights

UNESCO announces
9 new Cities of Literature!
(http://www.cityoiterature.com/whatson/news/edinburgh-welcomes-9new-unesco-cities-of-literature/)

Poetry Projections in Krakow

Kanazawa Calling

Neu! Reekie! Take Japan

(http://www.cityoiterature.com/poetryprojections-in-krakow/)

(http://www.cityoiterature.com/kanazawacalling/)

(http://www.cityoiterature.com/neureekie-take-japan/)
read all news stories >
(http://www.cityoiterature.com/whatson/news/)

(http://www.cityoiterature.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/PDF-CityOfLiterature-Barcelona.pdf)

Download fact sheet

10 Things to Know About

Ljubljana

[ PDF, 2 pages, 5.8MB ]

(http://www.ljubljana.si/en/living-in-ljubljana/focus/75961/detail.html)

Visit the Ljubljana website

in English

Whats On
(http://www.cityoiterature.com/whats-on/)
Looking for a literary x? (http://www.cityoiterature.com/whats-on/events/)
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Whats new? (http://www.cityoiterature.com/whats-on/news/)
Whats on all year round? (http://www.cityoiterature.com/whats-on/events/)

The Literary City

(http://www.cityoiterature.com/the-literary-city/)
Adventuring on foot? (http://www.cityoiterature.com/the-literary-city/visit/tours-trails/)
Need help organising your visit? (http://www.cityoiterature.com/the-literary-city/visit/itineraries/)
Edinburgh an open book (http://www.cityoiterature.com/the-literary-city/read/our-literary-story/)
Find a bookshop (http://www.cityoiterature.com/the-literary-city/read/bookshops/)

Cities of Literature
(http://www.cityoiterature.com/cities-of-literature/)
Are you a bidding city? (http://www.cityoiterature.com/cities-of-literature/join-us/)
Whats our City of Literature story? (http://www.cityoiterature.com/cities-of-literature/the-story/)
Cities of Literature (http://www.cityoiterature.com/cities-of-literature/cities-of-literature/)
What is the Creative City Network? (http://www.cityoiterature.com/cities-of-literature/creative-city-network/)

Literary Resources
(http://www.cityoiterature.com/a-z/)
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