Ten years of talking about the love of reading

The first day of the eleventh year of the Literary Festival on a ship, which is a large white ship "Zeppelin" on the Danube in the center of Novi Sad at the foot of the Fortress, will also be a celebration of its tenth birthday. It was conceived as a promotion of the monograph "RandeLJvu with writers and books" by Đorđe Randelj, the creator and organizer of this unique festival.

Promotion and the start of the new season are scheduled for Wednesday, May 14, at 20 p.m.

And after that everything was easy.

However, first about the celebrant, about the Festival. Its title "Talks about love (according to reading)" speaks volumes about what it is about: every Thursday from spring to autumn, writers come to talk with readers about their books and everything else related to them. So far, over 260 writers, critics, actors and musicians from Yugoslav cities, mostly from Novi Sad and Belgrade, have attended 400 such evenings. And all that without subsidies.

"Saša Blečić, the owner of the ship, and his associate Miša Cveticanin once asked me if I would hold a literary evening at their place because they wanted to win over new guests. I told them - I would, but not a literary evening, but a literary festival! They agreed, and everything was easy after that," Randelj told "Vreme".

Why did he do that? Because he believes that "some new Crnjanskis are still among us today, we just don't recognize them, we are not reminded of them by the media, which today closely follows every step and every hem on the skirts of some Cajki, Ceca and other Karleuš. Of course, they are around us, in every generation new Andrići, Ćopići, Raičevići, Pope, Selimovići, Matići are growing up, but we have pushed them aside step by step, because to read Miloš Crnjanski's book we need, say, two or three, even a week, and for Cajka and Ceca - three and a half minutes. That's why we've been feeding on plankton on the surface for half a century, and we're not looking for big fish in the depths!"

"Date with writers and books" is Randel's 26th book. The first part contains his journalistic-literary texts about life with books and writers, and the second - impressions of the participants of the Randel Festival. There are also mandatory and very valuable photos.

It's talked about, but really

We will quote part of Mihajl Pantić's text "Danube, Ship, Festival".

"We are not talking about any 'literary evenings', that well-worn, moldy ritual in which a living writer exposes his bust in the presence of eulogizing speakers, close and distant relatives, a few curious people who also, well, write, then two or three friends (the others apologize for being busy) and representatives of the media who, before the start of the program, take statements, make a video and the unnoticed sneak out, understandably and justifiably, waiting for them to be compiled No, none of that. They talk on the ship, but not necessarily in that order. It's as if the participants and listeners return to the ancient custom of gathering in the "prytaneum", where books (not flags, not writers) are in the foreground speakers or only listeners; speakers do not listen, listeners do not speak; in short, the 'deaf phone' has become and remains a basic tool even in the world of absolute digitized mass communications."

Let's also remind that many authors of "Vremena" enjoyed themselves on Randelj's Zeppelin, for example Ivan Ivanji, Dragoljub Žarković, Miša Vasić, Teofil Pančić, Sonja Ćirić, Petar Lađević, Jovana Gligorijević, Jelena Jorgaćević Kisić...

On Wednesday, poet Pero Zubac and journalists Tatjana Novčić Matijević and Branislav Šovljanski will present the book "RandeLJva with writers and books" published by "Tiski cvet" on Wednesday, and announce the beginning of the 11th season.