Tom?i?eva 12
Ljubljana
Slovenia
- Arts
- International/Cultural relations
- Others
- Youth and education
The beginnings of the association can be traced back to 1872, when authors started to organize, but it got the current name in 1968. Distinguished Slovene writers were chosen as presidents by their peers over the years. The Slovene Writers Association promotes creative freedom, acts as advocate to improve the status of Slovene literature and writers, and brings together writers from the entire Slovene cultural space, regardless of the borders. Always critical and creative, the association has helped make significant changes in the Slovene social and cultural space and life. It was very active during Slovenia's quest for independence and the formation of the young country.
The association increasingly produces contemporary public programmes in literature. With a wide array of programmes, it represents the most active organisation and the main centre of literary activity in Slovenia. Its projects and activities include: the Vilenica International Literary Festival, the Trubar Foundation which supports translations of Slovene authors, the fair Slovene Book Days, literary readings etc. It presents literary awards and prizes.
The Vilenica festival, the major international event of the SWA is a gathering of poets, prose writers, dramatists and essayists. Since the first festival in1986, the climax of the event has been the presentation of the Vilenica Prize.