The Slovene Writers' Association () is a non-profit association of
Slovene writers based in
Ljubljana
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.
The association was founded on 21 April 1872 in Ljubljana
at the initiative of Davorin Trstenjak who also became its first president. The statue of the organization was confirmed by the
Duchy of Carniola
The Duchy of Carniola (, , ) was an imperial estate of the Holy Roman Empire, established under House of Habsburg, Habsburg rule on the territory of the former East Frankish March of Carniola in 1364. A hereditary land of the Habsburg monarc ...
on 10 May 1872.
The constituent congress was held on 14 September 1872 while regular meetings took place in the Hotel Evropa until the 1885.
It operated under various names over the years and re-adopted its original name ''Društvo slovenskih pisateljev'' in 1968. It provides a platform for writers, poets, playwrights and essayists who participate to promote common cultural and social inetersts.
The association has also made considerable efforts in promoting Slovene literature abroad. Its international activities include maintaining contacts with cultural institutions and writers' societies all around the world and collaborating with literary journals and magazines. Its own publication ''Litterae slovenicae'' (called ''Le Livre Slovène'' before 1991) publishes excerpts, poems and short stories by Slovene writers in translation, making Slovene literature available to a world audience.
It annually bestows the
Vilenica Prize to a Central European author for his or her achievements in the field of literature and essay writing at the festival which takes place in the
Vilenica Cave
Vilenica Cave or Vilenica Cave at Lokev () is the oldest show cave in Europe. The first tourists to the cave were recorded in 1633. It is located next to the village of Lokev in the municipality of Sežana on the Karst Plateau in southwestern ...
in the
Slovenian Littoral
The Slovene Littoral, or simply Littoral (, ; ; ), is one of the traditional regions of Slovenia. The littoral in its name – for a coastal-adjacent area – recalls the former Austrian Littoral (''Avstrijsko Primorje''), the Habsburg poss ...
. Since 1986 it has also annually awarded the
Jenko Award for the best poetry collection in
Slovene published in the previous two years.
Presidents
*
Davorin Trstenjak 1872
*
Rajko Perušek 1895–1915
*
Anton Funtek
*
Alojz Gradnik
Alojz Gradnik (August 3, 1882 – July 14, 1967) was a Slovenian poet and translation, translator.
Life
Gradnik was born in the village of Medana in the Gorizia Hills region, in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire and is today in the Muni ...
*
Oton Župančič
Oton Župančič (; January 23, 1878 – June 11, 1949; pseudonym ''Gojko'' ) was a Slovene language, Slovene poet, translator, and playwright. He is regarded, alongside Ivan Cankar, Dragotin Kette and Josip Murn, as the beginner of modernism in ...
*
France Koblar 1938–1945
*
Miško Kranjec (2 terms)
*
France Bevk (2 terms)
*
Ivan Potrč (2 terms)
*
Mile Klopčič
*
Beno Zupančič
*
Matej Bor 1959–1961
*
Anton Ingolič
*
Mira Mihelič
*
Janez Menart
*
Ciril Kosmač
*
Tone Pavček 1979–1983
*
Tone Partljič 1983–1987
*
Rudi Šeligo 1987–1991
*
Dane Zajc
Dane Zajc () (26 October 1929 – 20 October 2005) was a Slovenian poet and playwright. He served as president of the Slovene Writers' Association (1991–1995), and was awarded the prestigious Prešeren Award for lifetime achievement (1981). T ...
1991–1995
*
Evald Flisar 1995–2001 (3 terms)
*
Tone Peršak 2001–2003
*
Vlado Žabot 2003–2007 (2 terms)
*
Slavko Pregl 2007–2009
*
Milan Jesih 2009–2011
*
Veno Taufer 2011–2014
*
Ivo Svetina 2014–
[ Delobr>10 Dec 2014 ''Novi predsednik društva pisateljev je Ivo Svetina'' Ivo Svetina is the New President of the Writers' Association]
/ref>
See also
* Association of Writers of Yugoslavia
References
Slovenian writers' organizations
1872 establishments in Austria-Hungary
Organizations established in 1872
Organizations based in Ljubljana
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