At the conclusion of Ljubljana – World Book Capital City programme Ljubljana joined  The International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN), an association of cities around the world dedicated to the value of Freedom of Expression.

Writers have consistently been targets of politically motivated threats and persecution, and the network believes it is necessary for the international community to formulate and implement an appropriate response. Each ICORN city focuses on one writer at a time, each writer representing the countless others in hiding, in prison or silenced forever. By providing a Guest Writer with a safe place to stay and economic security for a standard term of two years, ICORN cities make an important, practical contribution to the promotion of Freedom of Expression.

At a press conference in Trubar Literature House dr. Uroš Grilc, Chief of the Department of Culture MOL, Marjan Strojan, president of the Slovenian PEN Centre, Tone Peršak, vice president of PEN and Veno Taufer, a member of the Supervisory Committee of PEN, presented the project.

On 21. April 2011 after  more than a year of preparation, screening and  planting the Labyrinth of Art officially opened.

The Labyrinth of Art is a sustainable art project in the vicinity of the Kodeljevo castle in Ljubljana. It was created by the Exodos Ljubljana association in the framework of the Ljubljana – World Book Capital City 2010 programme and with the support of the European Union. The labyrinth is designed to meet the needs of urban people who like to seek refuge in green areas in order to activate their body and spirit, relax their thoughts or read a book. The park is planted with 287 trees and the heart of the labyrinth features a reading island with works of literature for the inquisitive reader – stroller.

On 22 April 2011, the year in which Ljubljana was the proud holder of the UNESCO title World Book Capital came to an end. Our programme brought a range of original stimuli for the broad accessibility of the book, as well as the promotion of literature, writers, the book and reading. The fundamental point of departure of the programme was the inclusion and connection of all of the links of the book chain - from the writer to the buyer or reader. There is no doubt that the Ljubljana - World Book Capital 2010 programme was the most extensive cultural event in Ljubljana during the time that the city was the bearer of the UNESCO title.

At the concluding ceremony of the Year of the Book in Ljubljana, Dr Uroš Grlic, the Head of the Department of Culture of the Municipality Ljubljana, gave writer César Aira, who was representing Buenos Aires, the new World Book Capital, a copy of the Ljubljana Resolution on Books, which suggests concrete and complex guidelines with regard to encouraging the development of the area of the book.

Good luck Buenos Aires, World Book Capital 2011!

The official opening of the project Babel Tower of Books took place in the beginning of March in Buenos Aires, the city set to take over the World Book Capital City title on April 23, 2011. The installation by Marta Minujin rises 25 meters above ground and will stand on the 9 de Julio Avenue in the city centre for 25 days. The tower is made of approx. 30,000 books in the languages of the countries which participated in the project by donating books of contemporary poetry, short story collections, dictionaries, history books and 2010 best-sellers. After the completion of the project, the books will be available for use in the fist multilingual library in Buenos Aires.

Dear book lovers,
You're kindly invited to join us on the walking tour – Ljubljana Literary Trail walking tour is to be held on Tuesday 5 April 2011 at 11hrs as part of the festival World Literatures – Fabula 2011, the prime literary festival of Ljubljana – World Book Capital. The walk will last around an hour and will take participants through the centre of old Ljubljana from the France Prešeren Square.
 
Towns are complex organisms. Their nature is defined by their inhabitants and their history. It is possible to discover them in a variety of ways. We can explore them along various paths, but for Ljubljana a literary trail seems especially appropriate. Throughout history Slovenes have substituted their political elite with writers and poets. It is not surprising therefore that right at the centre of town, where our literary trail begins, we find the monument to the Slovene national poet France Prešeren. Along this trail you will travel in time from the 16th century, when Primož Trubar wrote the first book in the Slovene language, to the late 20th century. You will be shown buildings where our poets and writers lived and worked, but also find out about buildings that have long disappeared.

Ljubljana Literary Trail walking tour is organized on the basis of the book that will be published in late March by Študentska založba. In the book there's nineteen points of interest, complete with photographs of the locations and portraits of the authors that represent the very pinnacle of the Slovene literary canon. At each point the author associated with the location is presented. Not only are the basic details of their lives given, the authors are also placed within a wider European and world literary context. Poets and writers who influenced the author’s opus are listed to facilitate an understanding of the kind of literature they produced.

On 18 March, the Institute for Innovative Arts Research (IRIU) will conclude its 9-month project called The Pilgrimage of Books, which was organised in the framework of the Ljubljana - World Book Capital City 2010 programme. The project attracted 900 participants, called Pilgrimage Librarians, who were sent a book by post, added a commentary on its content and passed it on to other readers, called Pilgrims. The third reader returned the book in an enclosed postage paid envelope. In this way, the IRIU institute managed to connect almost 2700 Book Activists.

The conclusion of The Pilgrimage of Books project will mark the official opening of the Slovenia Reads project in which each book will change hands three times. With the project IRIU aims to attract 15,000 Pilgrimage Librarians.

For further details on The Pilgrimage of Books project go to www.romanjeknjig.com.