Prof. Dr. Barbara Pregelj Receives PONT Charter

According to the explanatory memorandum, the literary scholar, professor, translator, editor, and promoter of reading, who has been a driving force behind the cultural dialogue between Spain and Slovenia, received the charter as a renowned expert in the field of language and literature.

“I think it's important to stress that this is a special prize in our area. If I understand it correctly, it is an award that rewards multiculturalism, the attitude, the fact that one lives multiculturalism. I live this not only as a translator, but also as a lecturer, as an editor, as an active member of translation associations, and as a liaison with related associations,” Prof. Dr. Pregelj told the Vrabec Anarhist website, adding that “other prizes reward specific fields, which is fine. But this prize is different; it looks for elements of integration. It looks more broadly, more holistically. They reward an attitude of integration and crossing borders, including those of individual areas.”

In addition, on the eve of the Day of Slovenian Culture, the Medvode publishing house, Malinc, received the Pletenica award for its transdisciplinary project, The Dwellings of Branislava Sušnik, in which Prof. Dr. Barbara Pregelj also participates. The reward is given by the Municipality of Medvode for special achievements in the field of culture.

PONT Charter:
Barbara Pregelj is a translator, editor, literary scientist, university professor and promoter of reading, a driving force of the cultural dialogue between Spain and Slovenia. Her approach to her primary profession of a translator from the Spanish language is comprehensive, and apart from translating the prominent authors of contemporary Spanish and Basque literature into Slovenian she also translates the prominent Slovenian authors into Spanish, and promotes their work to the Spanish literary audience. In desire to establish a closer connection between the culture from the Iberian peninsula and the Slovenian culture, she co-funded a publishing house Malinc, where she works as an editor. There she publishes Spanish and Basque literature for children and youth, thus opening doors to so far unknown literary worlds for Slovenians. Barbara Pregelj is convinced that also in the time of digital media, the reading of books is fundamental for the education of youth. Therefore she holds workshops for the motivation of reading, in which she encourages mentors to use the method introduced by the Spanish librarian Montserrat Sarto, which inspires children and young adults to interpret and perceive books through their individual experience. As a literary scientist and professor of literature at the University of Nova Gorica she researches Spanish literature, youth literature, literary interpretation, and older Slovenian literature. She strives for a better status of translators in society, therefore she edited the White Book of Translation that exposes an increasingly worsening social condition of translators in Slovenia, and invites associations of translators to connect and cooperate for better future.

Congratulations!

Andreja Leban, Public Relations