9. Međunarodni festival književnosti Bookstan, 3−6. 7. 2024.

Zarjavele trobente s svojo glasbo, / da jo zbudijo, da jo zbudijo. (slv. Blazing trumpets with their music, / to wake her up, to wake her up.)—regardless of whether you pronounce these words in rhythm or the song in question by the band Kongres (performed by Zoran Predin) is completely unknown to you, with the help of its rusty trumpets, messengers from the times long past, we ask the central questions of the ninth International Literature Festival Bookstan:

What kind of narratives have the power to become cultural heritage? In what way do literary voices echo their own generation, but also transcend the spirit of their time into an ideal that is not selfishly, nostalgically tied to one time and space, but rich with truth for generations to come? What about the narratives that remain imprisoned in their generation—what meaning do they have beyond it?

Once again, the context of Sarajevo, the city in which Bookstan takes place—where there is no East, no West—is important in shaping our worldview, reading narratives from the special perspective of a labyrinthine topography, which, due to the painfully cut borders of stereotypes and the historical burden of our society, nevertheless gives a unique perspective, similar to that of a cubist city of Trieste that was described by Claudio Magris. Our cubist city of Sarajevo has persisted despite deep cuts between generations marked by different social regimes, war experiences and cultural rebellions. These cuts are also echoed in the words of Miljenko Jergović, specifically about the song "Zarjavele trobente": Such songs, neither guilty nor accused, stand on the borders of worlds: on one side are those who remember, and they are usually unbearably sad, on the other side are those who do not remember, who forgot or were not even born yet.

Adhering to Magris' words that historical reality must never be mystified by rhetorical claims, Bookstan 2024 invites you to consider the significance of the choice between being victims imprisoned in the fate of a historical era and being survivors, who try to tell new generations about the duplicity of the bestial and of the noble race of man.

− Lamija Milišić, Festival CEO