Poetry Festival is an international festival of many possible encounters – between poems, people, languages, and diverse echoes and forms of artistic expression.
It is a young initiative, taking place in Ljubljana for the first time, yet rooted in more than 30 years of experience in creating, developing and preserving spaces open to and dedicated to poetry in its most pulsating form.
The festival is at the same time a continuation of a long tradition of poetic encounters and a commitment to bringing into the local space the most exciting, unexpected and forward-looking voices of contemporary poetry from around the world.
At its heart are international and local poets, translators, cultural workers and, most importantly, festival-goers. Shaped by the many people who take part in it, the festival takes on many forms: it is a poetry fair, a workshop, a jazz concert and a late-night party.
This year's festival theme is dedicated to poetry as it can be experienced and heard between the lines of contemporary popular music. Its rhythm is not sustained by any particular time or place, but by the people who come together to experience it, keep it alive and, together with us, create a lasting, thunderous yet gentle celebration of poetic creativity.
FESTIVAL TEAM
Aleš Šteger, Festival Programme Advisor: ales.steger@beletrina.si
Matjaž Jamnik, Executive Producer: matjaz.jamnik@beletrina.si
Marko Hercog, Technical Director: marko.hercog@beletrina.si
Inesa Grobler, Head of Marketing and Public Relations: inesa.grobler@beletrina.si
Hanna Juta Kozar, Visual Identity and Graphic Designer: hana.kozar@beletrina.si
Anamarija Lukovac, Head of Social Media and Digital Marketing: anamarija.lukovac@beletrina.si
Neli Bedene, Marketing Assistant: neli.bedene@beletrina.si
MEDIA
Inesa Grobler, Public Relations: inesa.grobler@beletrina.si; pr@beletrina.si
PARTICIPANTS OF THE DAYS OF POETRY AND WINE
2025
Gioconda Belli (Nicaragua), Nikola Madžirov (North Macedonia), Gojko Božović (Serbia), Katharina Schultens (Germany), Réka Borda (Hungary), Kalaf Epalanga (Angola), Radna Fabias (Curaçao), Logan February (NIgeria), Karlo Hmeljak (Slovenia), Boris A . Novak (Slovenia), Radmila Petrović (Serbia), Andra Rotaru (Romania), Siljarosa Schletterer (Austria), Kaja Teržan (Slovenia), Péter Závada (Hungary), Milan Dekleva (Slovenia), Kristina Hočevar (Slovenia), Aleš Mustar (Slovenia), Miroslav Mićanović (Croatia), Monika Hercog (Croatia), Olja Savičević Ivančević (Croatia)
2024
Raymond Antrobus (United Kingdom), Dovilė Bagdonaitė (Litva), Choi Young-Mi (South Korea), Jacek Dehnel (Poland), Nina Dragičević (Slovenia), Katie Farris (USA), Carolyn Forché (USA), Maja Haderlap (Slovenia/Austria), Sabine Huynh (France), Ilya Kaminsky (Ukraine/USA), Kim Kyung Ju (South Korea), Kim Yideum (South Korea), Dunya Mikhail (Irak/USA), Natalija Milovanović (Slovenia), Valžina Mort (Belorus/USA), Artis Ostups (Lithuania), Gregor Podlogar (Slovenia), Evelina Rudan (Croatia), Muanis Sinanović (Slovenia), Tone Škrjanec (Slovenia), Pia Tafdrup (Denmark)
2023
Eugenijus Ališanka (Lithuania), Ilma Rakusa (Switzerland), David Harsent (United Kingdom), Frank Báez (Dominican Republic), Yolanda Castaño (Spain), Primož Čučnik (Slovenia), Miriam Drev (Slovenia), María Eloy-García (Spain), Borut Gombač (Slovenia), Joumana Haddad (Lebanon), Petr Hruška (Czech Republic), Marie Iljašenko (Czech Republic), Barbara Jurša Potocco (Slovenia), Barbara Korun (Slovenia), Ondřej Lipár (Czech Republic), Luljeta Lleshanaku (Albania), Denis Škofič (Slovenia), Lello Voce (Italy)
2022
Anna Aguilar-Amat (Spain), Aifric Mac Aodha (Ireland), Ivan Dobnik (Slovenia), Eli Eliahu (Israel), Carolyn Forché (USA), Anna Gual (Spain), Ivan Hristov (Bulgaria), Milan Jesih (Slovenia), Jordi Julià (Spain), Kristina Kočan (Slovenia), Vinko Möderndorfer (Slovenia), Chus Pato (Spain), Tomasz Różycki (Poland), Ana Svetel (Slovenia), Anna Terék (Hungary), Nataša Velikonja (Slovenia), Syds Wiersma (Netherlands), Selahattin Yolgiden (Turkey)
2021
Dejan Aleksić (Serbia), Ana Luísa Amaral (Portugal), Linda Maria Baros (France), Petr Borkovec (Czech Republic), Efe Duyan (Turkey), Durs Grünbein (Germany), Philipp Hager (Austria), Hilà Lahav (Israel), Feri Lainšček (Slovenia), Dennis Maloney (USA), Lily Michaelides (Cyprus), Kim Moore (United Kingdom), Josep Pedrals (Spain), Claudio Pozzani (Italy), Peter Semolič (Slovenia), Olga Stehlíková (Czech Republic), Maja Vidmar (Slovenia)
2020
Krisztina Tóth (Hungary), Volha Hapeyeva (Belarus), Adisa Bašić (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Krystyna Dąbrowska (Poland), Gaia Ginevra Giorgi (Italy), Sergej Harlamov (Slovenia), Sonja Harter (Austria), Urška Kramberger (Slovenia), Mohan Rana (India), Ariel Spiegler (France), Ivo Stropnik (Slovenia), Mikael Vogel (Germany)
2019
Bei Dao (China), Radmila Lazić (Serbia), Ilija Trojanow (Germany/Bulgaria), José F. A. Oliver (Germany), Monika Rinck (Germany), Jan Wagner (Germany), Birgit Müller-Wieland (Austria), Ramunė Brundzaitė (Lithuania), Goran Čolakhodžić (Croatia), Maarten Inghels (Belgium), Lou Raoul (France), Miroslav Košuta (Slovenia), Glorjana Veber (Slovenia), Dimitris Angelis (Greece), Metin Cengiz (Turkey), Rita Ann Higgins (Ireland), Katica Kulavkova (North Macedonia), Noémi László (Hungary/Romania), Girgis Shoukry (Egypt), Branko Čegec (Croatia)
2018
Agi Mishol (Israel), Anne Portugal (France), Athena Farrokhzad (Sweden), Bartłomiej Majzel (Poland), Bernadette Schiefer (Austria), Brian Henry (USA), Brynne Rebele-Henry (USA), Carlos Aganzo (Spain), Erika Martínez (Spain), Gábor Lanczkor (Hungary), Ivo Svetina (Slovenia), Joanna Klink (USA), Johanna Venho (Finland), Jurij Andruhovič (Ukraine), Marija Andrijašević (Croatia), Mercedes Cebrián (Spain), Michael Krüger (Germany), Pernilla Berglund (Sweden), Rod Mengham (United Kingdom), Valentina Colonna (Italy), Vlado Kreslin (Slovenia), Wang Yin (China)
2017
Amir Or (Israel), Andrej Brvar (Slovenia), Ani Gjika (USA), Franca Mancinelli (Italy), Helwig Brunner (Austria), Jianghe Ouyang (China), Julia Szychowiak (Poland), Laura Accerboni (Italy), Maxime Coton (Belgium), Milan Vincetič (Slovenia), Nikonlina Andova (Macedonia), Pura López Colomé (Mexico), Raúl Zurita (Chile), Sharmistha Mohanty (India), Togara Muzanenhamo (Zimbabwe), Yekta (France), Ottó Tolnai (Hungary), János Térey (Hungary), Krisztina Tóth (Hungary), István Klémeny (Hungary)
2016
Charles Simic (USA), Veno Taufer (Slovenia), KO UN (Korea), Vlada Urošević (Macedonia), George Elliott Clarke (Canada), Natasha Kanapé Fontaine (Canada), Pierre Nepveu (Canada), Gillian Sze (Canada), Ana Brnardić (Croatia), Zehra Çırak (Germany), Ida Linde (Sweden), Els Moors (Belgium), Sigbjørn Skåden (Norway), Maria Seisenbacher (Austria), Faraj Bayrakdar (Sweden/Syria), Kristin Berget (Norway), Gloria Gervitz (Mexico), Tibor Hrs Pandur (Slovenia), Maurizio Mattiuzza (Italy), Fiston Mwanza Mujila (Congo)
2015
C. D. Wright (USA), Milan Dekleva (Slovenia), Luis Chaves (Costa Rica), Volha Hapeyeva (Belarus), Mary Jo Bang (USA), Azad Ziya Eren (Turkey), Monica Pavani (Italy), Judith Nika Pfeifer (Austria), Marjan Strojan (Slovenia), Amarjit Chandan (UK/Punjab), Patricia Goodrich (USA), Jan Baeke (Netherlands), Hester Knibbe (Netherlands), Geert van Istendael (Belgium), Maud Vanhauwaert (Belgium), Justyna Bargielska (Poland), Pär Hansson (Sweden), Vytautas Stankus (Lithuania), Ivan Šamija (Croatia), Gjoko Zdraveski (Macedonia)
2014
Svetlana Makarovič (Slovenia), Tomas Venclova (Lithuania), Elke Erb (Germany), Athena Farrokhzad (Sweden), Ann Jäderlund (Sweden), Niclas Nilsson (Sweden), Gunnar Harding (Sweden), Cvetka Lipuš (Slovenia), Peter Mickwitz (Finland), Dragana Mladenović (Serbia), James Byrne (United Kingdom), Astrid Alben (United Kingdom), Jackie Wills (United Kingdom), Jana Bodnárová (Slovakia), Lydia Steinbacher (Austria), Dénes Krusovszky (Hungary), Sara Ventroni (Italy), Mizuho Ishida (Japan)
2013
Yang Lian (China), Michel Deguy (France), Josip Osti (Slovenia), Jenny Tunedal (Sweden), Stefan Schmitzer (Austria), Joachim Sartorius (Germany), Nico Bleutge (Germany), Naeimeh Doostar Sanaye (Iran), Ana Seferović (Serbia), Zvonko Maković (Croatia), Julio Salgado (Argentina), Ester Naomi Perquin (Netherlands), Željko Ivanković Višnjik (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Guy Goffette (France), Emmanuel Moses (France), Tatjana Ščerbina (Russia), Barbara Pogačnik (Slovenia), Andrej Medved (Slovenia), Miquel Mestre (Catalonia), Joh Tachibana (Japan)
2012
Toon Tellegen (Netherlands), Milan Jesih (Slovenia), Dan Coman (Romania), José F. A. Oliver (Germany), Joseph Gale Burns (United Kingdom), Ekaterina Josifova (Bulgaria), András Gerevich (Hungary), Oleksander Irvanec (Ukraine), Andrzej Sosnowski (Poland), Mile Stojić (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Eduard Escoffet (Spain), Maarja Kangro (Estonia), Semier Insayif (Austria), André Velter (France), Valerie Mejer (Mexico), Ilma Rakusa (Switzerland), Gajas Al-Madhun (Palestine), Tina Kozin (Slovenia), Katja Perat (Slovenia), Mateja Bizjak Petit (Slovenia)
2011
Natalija Azarova (Russia), Tomica Bajsić (Croatia), Arno Camenisch (Switzerland), Ann Cotten (Germany), Miljana Cunta (Slovenia), Fabrizio Dall’Aglio (Italy), Irena Delonga (Croatia), Anunciada Fernández de Córdova (Spain), Ján Gavura (Slovakia), Ivan Landzhev (Bulgaria), Nora Iuga (Romania), Eleanor Livingstone (United Kingdom), Taja Kramberger (Slovenia), Nurit Zarchi (Israel), Adrian Oproiu (Romania), Primož Repar (Slovenia), Nataša Velikonja (Slovenia), Nicoletta Grillo (Italy), Peter Semolič (Slovenia)
2010
João Luís Barreto Guimarães (Portugal), Gian Mario Villalta (Italy), Meena Kandasamy (India), Martin Piekar (Germany), Vanni Bianconi (Switzerland), Barbara Gregorič (Slovenia), Tereza Riedlbauchová (Czech Republic), Jelena Isak Kres (Slovenia), Jelka Ređep (Serbia), Daniel Jonas (Portugal), Zsolt Láng (Hungary), Nika Mahnič (Slovenia), John Mateer (Australia), Lídia Jorge (Portugal), Piotr Sommer (Poland), Nicoletta Grillo (Italy), Petr Hruška (Czech Republic), Ján Tazberík (Slovakia), Pavel Opoik (Slovakia), Milena Michiko Flašar (Austria), Matjaž Pikalo (Slovenia)
2009
Michel Deguy (France), Charles Bernstein (USA), Marko Pogačar (Croatia), Ghayath Almadhoun (Palestine), Ivan Volarič Feo (Slovenia), Ján Gavura (Slovakia), Joseph Brodsky (USA), Veronika Dintinjana (Slovenia), Anunciada Fernández de Córdova (Spain), Simona Škrabec (Catalonia), Mila Haugová (Slovakia), Jirí Gruša (Czech Republic), Jirí Hásek (Czech Republic), Michel Deguy (France), Sarah Kirsch (Germany), Olga Tokarczuk (Poland), Uroš Zupan (Slovenia), Manuel Forcano (Spain)
2008
Miloš Djordjević (Serbia), Uroš Zupan (Slovenia), André Schmitz (France), Marjana Savka (Ukraine), Jacques Jouet (France), Jacques Roubaud (France), Michel Deguy (France), Sylvie Germain (France), Colm Tóibín (Ireland), Denis Donoghue (Ireland), Paul Durcan (Ireland), Celia de Freine (Ireland), Michel Deguy (France), Eduardo Espina (Uruguay), Tereza Riedlbauchová (Czech Republic), Christiane Gehrt (Germany), Brigitte Gyr (France)
2007
Andre Velter (France), Michel Deguy (France), Jacques Roubaud (France), Michel Deguy (France), Jean-Luc Outers (Belgium), Jean-Baptiste Para (France), Michel Deguy (France), Stanka Hrastelj (Slovenia), Evald Flisar (Slovenia), Jacques Jouet (France), Jacques Roubaud (France), Michel Deguy (France), Jean-Claude Pirotte (Belgium), Jean-Baptiste Para (France), Michel Deguy (France), Andre Velter (France), Jacques Roubaud (France), Jean-Claude Pirotte (Belgium), Brigitte Gyr (France), Michel Deguy (France)
2006
Oana Avasilichioaei (Canada), Christoph W. Bauer (Austria), Nicole Blackman (USA), Hector Bofill (Catalonia), Ida Börjel (Sweden), Dejan Čančarević (Serbia), Ulrikka S. Gernes (Denmark), Gal Gjurin (Slovenia), Anne Hänninen (Finland), Christian Hawkey (USA), Stanka Hrastelj (Slovenia), Igor Isakovski (Macedonia), Nikolaj Kononov (Russia), John Mateer (Australia), Laure Morali (Canada), Jana Pácalová (Slovakia), Steffen Popp (Germany), Valérie Rouzeau (France), Dariusz Sośnicki (Poland), Francesco Tomada (Italy), Dušan Šarotar (Slovenia), George Vasilievici (Romania), Zmicier Vishniou (Belarus), Uljana Wolf (Germany)
2005
Wojciech Brzoska (Poland), Suzanne Buffam (Canada), Sylvia Čoleva (Bulgaria), Jalal El-Hakmaoui (Morocco), Daniel Falb (Germany), Xavier Farre (Catalonia), Manuel Forcano (Catalonia), Catharina Gripenberg (Finland), Michal Habaj (Slovakia), Erina Harris (Canada), Petra Kolmančič (Slovenia), Claudiu Komartin (Romania), Yvon Le Men (France), Christine Marendon (Germany), Tobiasz Melanowski (Poland), Aleš Mustar (Slovenia), Ruxandra Novac (Romania), Jana Putrle Srdić (Slovenia), Srikanth Reddy (USA), Ingrid Storholme (Norway), Zvonko Taneski (Macedonia), Sergej Timofej (Lithuania), Krisztina Toth (Hungary), Tomislav Vrečar (Slovenia)
2004
Joan-Elies Adell (Spain), Jurij Andruhovič (Ukraine), Julia Fiedorczuk (Poland), Ioan Flora (Romania), Gemma Gorga I López (Spain), Mugur Grosu (Romania), Matthew Hollis (United Kingdom), Violeta Hristova (Bulgaria), Petr Hruška (Czech Republic), Jovica Ivanovski (Macedonia), Jure Jakob (Slovenia), Tamás Jónás (Hungary), Julius Keleras (Lithuania), Margret Kreidl (Austria), Matteo Lefevre (Italy), Immanuel Mifsud (Malta), Rebecca O’Connor (Ireland), Caitriona O’Reilly (Ireland), Lauri Otokonski (Finland), Edward Pasewicz (Poland), Andraž Polič (Slovenia), Marko Samec (Slovenia), Robert Simonišek (Slovenia), Anna T. Szabó (Hungary), Bogdan Trojak (Czech Republic), Christian Uetz (Switzerland), Anja Utler (Germany), Renata Valentić (Croatia)
2003
Sebastiŕ Alzamora (Spain), Tomas S. Butkus (Lithuania), Stanislava Chrobáková Repar (Slovakia), Rodica Drăghincescu (Romania), Fabio Franzin (Italy), Mihail Gălaţănu (Romania), Pavle Goranović (Montenegro), Hendrik Jackson (Germany), Jyrki Kiiskinen (Finland), Jan Koneffke (Germany), Barbara Korun (Slovenia), Katarína Kucbelová (Slovakia), Asmir Kujović (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Paweł Lekszycki (Poland), Nikola Madžirov (Macedonia), Uroš Mozetič (Slovenia), Kemal Mujičić (Croatia), Sabina Naef (Switzerland), Sonata Paliulyte (Lithuania), Marta Podgórnik (Poland), Katerina Rudčenková (Czech Republic), Kerry Shawn Keys (USA), Peter Svetina (Slovenia), Tone Škrjanec (Slovenia), Sigurbjörg Thrastardóttir (Iceland)
2002
Lee Ann Brown (USA), Tomas S. Butkus (Lithuania), Lidija Dimkovska (Macedonia), Tsanko Lalev (Bulgaria), Horia Gârbea (Romania), Mariusz Grzebalski (Poland), Fabjan Hafner (Austria-Carinthia), Cristine Hume (USA), Jouni Inkala (Finland), Asko Künnap (Estonia), Gaetano Longo (Italy), Bartłomiej Majzel (Poland), Melcion Mateu (Spain), Krešimir Pintarić (Croatia), Katja Plut (Slovenia), Simona Popescu (Romania), Edvîns Raups (Latvia), Monika Rinck (Germany), Salajdin Salihu (Albania), Eleni A. Sikelianos (USA), Michael Stauffer (Switzerland)
2001
Virgil Banescu (Romania), Daniel Banulescu (Romania), Joshua Beckman (USA), Balša Brković (Macedonia), Ahmed Burić (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Marius Burokas (Lithuania), Oswald Egger (Austria), Kristina Ehin (Estonia), Drago Glamuzina (Croatia), Tatjana Gromača (Croatia), Tdeusz Pioró (Poland), Klemen Pisk (Slovenia), Gregor Podlogar (Slovenia), Jacek Podsiadło (Poland), Matthew Rohrer (USA), Tomasz Różicky (Poland), Lutz Seiler (Germany), Karl Martin Sinijärv (Estonia), Martin Solotruk (Slovakia), Nicolaj Stochholm (Denmark), Lucija Stupica (Slovenia), Anni Sumari (Finland), Raphael Urweider (Switzerland), Matthew Zapruder (USA), Péter Zilahy (Hungary), Edoardo Zuccato (Italy)
1999
Mario Benedetti (Italy), Nataša Bunteska (Macedonia), Primož Čučnik (Slovenia), Hans Eichhorn (Austria), Brian Henry (USA), Jurij Hudolin (Slovenia), Ervin Jahić (Croatia), Lackfi János (Hungary), Orsolya Kalász (Hungary), Ivica Prtenjača (Croatia), Oscar Leonel Ruiz Ramírez (Mexico), Primož Repar (Slovenia), Tita Reut (France), Eva Ribich (Sweden), Peter Richards (USA), Krzysztof Siwczyk (Poland), Vadim Stipantsov (Russia), Peter Šulej (Slovakia), Adam Wiedeman (Poland), Gerald Zschorsch (Germany), Mustafa Zvizdić (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Nataša Žižović (Yugoslavia)
1998
Neringa Abrutite (Lithuania), Saška Bojanova Aleksandrova (Bulgaria), Rati Amaglobeli (Georgia), Esad Babačić (Slovenia), Slave Djordje Dimoski (Macedonia), Gerhard Falkner (Germany), Helga Glantschnig (Austria), Lavinia Greenlaw (United Kingdom), Radostina Georgieva Grigorova (Bulgaria), Michael Hofmann (United Kingdom), Dimitris Huliarakis (Greece), Imreh András (Hungary), Pamela Jaskoviak (Sweden), Nenad Jovanović (Yugoslavia), Vojislav Karanović (Yugoslavia), Kemény István (Hungary), Thomas Kling (Germany, Hungary), Leonid Kočetkov (Russia), Michele Obit (Italy), Eva Kristina Olsson (Sweden), Roberto Russo (Italy), Armin Senser (Switzerland), Ghada Shafi (Palestine), Ewa Sonneberg (Poland), Emir Šaković (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Aleš Šteger (Slovenia), Anne Talvaz (France), Robert Titan – Felix (Slovenia), Sotiris Trivizas (Greece)
1997
Aase Berg (Sweden), Marcel Beyer (Germany), Laurent Dimitri (France), Donhauser (Austria), Helena Eriksson (Sweden), Aleš Grošelj (Slovenia), Thanassis Hadjopoulos (Greece), Norbert Hummelt (Germany), Boiko Lambovsky (Bulgaria), Aurora Luque (Spain), Brane Mozetič (Slovenia), Alberto Nocerino (Italy), Novica Novaković (Slovenia), Sorin Paliga (Romania), Luciano Paronetto (Italy), Alberto Princis (Italy), Justin Quinn (Ireland), Jorge Riechmann (Spain), Ana Ristović (Yugoslavia), Goran Samardžić (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Amiran Svimonishvili (Georgia), Triin Soomets (Estonia), Paulo Teixeira (Portugal), Damir Uzunović (Bosnia and Herzegovina), István Vörös (Hungary), David Wheatley (Ireland), Fahrudin Zilkić (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
1996
Eugenijus Ališanka (Lithuania), Miłosz Biedrzycki (Poland), Aleš Debeljak (Slovenia), Roberto Dedenaro (Italy), Miloš Đurđević (Croatia), Adam Horovitz (United Kingdom), Alojz Ihan (Slovenia), Doris Kareva (Estonia), Eftim Kletnikov (Macedonia), Miklavž Komelj (Slovenia), Taja Kramberger (Slovenia), Endre Kukorelly (Hungary), Albert Ostermaier (Germany), Matjaž Pikalo (Slovenia), Peter Semolič (Slovenia), Maja Vidmar (Slovenia), Peter Waterhouse (Austria), Andrew Zawacki (USA), Uroš Zupan (Slovenia)