Becoming and Being a Woman Writer: Intertwined Networks of Slovene Literature

Dear colleagues,

The School of Humanities and the Research Centre for the Humanities at the University of Nova Gorica are organizing an interesting and topical discussion evening entitled Becoming and Being a Woman Writer: Intertwined Networks of Slovene Literature, which will take place as part of the event series Dialogues_beyond_

The event will take place on Wednesday, 15 May 2024 at 19:00 at the Maks Café and Bookstore (Kavarna in knjigarna Maks) in Nova Gorica (Delpinova ulica 12).

The guests of the evening are writer Breda Smolnikar and theatre actress and director Patrizia Jurinčič Finžgar. The conversation will be facilitated by Dr. Katja Mihurko, literary and cultural historian. The event will showcase the premiere of I Love Beautiful Letters video by Maya Franko.

In the past, authors often gathered around literary magazines and exchanged letters as a means of communication and spreading ideas. This way of connecting was often limited to physical presence in a certain space or to written correspondence that required time to send and receive messages. Modern digital technologies have changed this dynamic, as they enable fast and direct communication between authors anywhere in the world. For this reason, we are interested in how contemporary female literary authors experience these means of communication. Do they feel more connected to other authors due to digital platforms? Do they feel that they now have a greater opportunity to express and promote their work? We are also interested in whether their understanding of literary networks and connections differs from that of the past, and what role different technologies play in the formation of literary communities and groups.

With the publication of the book Ljubim lepa pisma: dopisovanja avtoric slovenske moderne (I Love Beautiful Letters: Slovene Moderna Women Authors’ Correspondences, UNG Press, 2024), interesting perspectives for interdisciplinary research in the field of literary sciences and theater art are opening up. With fundamental questions about the role of literary networks in past periods and their influence on the artistic development and visibility of female authors in the contemporary literary landscape, space is opened for in-depth discussion and analysis. The discussion will address key questions that go into the depths of literary creation and theatrical expression. Among other things, we will focus on understanding the support provided to female authors in the past, especially in the light of modern interpretations that reveal the complexity of literary works and their impact on the social context. In addition, we will be interested in the role of art and theater in the reinterpretation of literary works and the presentation of the life stories of women authors through various media formats, such as a feature-documentary radio show.