An invitation from British-Slovene Society member Peter Davey :

Thursday 11^th June 2026 at 4pm

Štanjel Castle, Slovenia

You are warmly invited to join a discussion about writing and translating in smaller languages and dialects featuring Slovenian and two minority Scottish languages: Scots and Scottish Gaelic, with music by Gaelic singer Beth Frieden.

Timed to coincide with the fifth Edwin Morgan Trust International Translation Exchange, this event will feature readings by the six poets — Ken Cockburn, Beth Frieden, Iva Jevtić, David Kinloch, Barbara Korun and Milan Šelj – as they reflect on the process of literary translation, offering insights into the creative and collaborative journey behind their work, and exploring the cultural and linguistic contexts that shape their writing.

The Edwin Morgan Trust International Translation Exchange is a biennial series that brings together leading international poets to collaborate with Scottish poets through workshops and public readings. This two-part exchange in Edinburgh (November 2025) and Dane-Sežana (June 2026) is organised with and supported by the Centre for Slovenian Literature and the Slovenian Book Agency.

This event will be in English and Slovenian and is proudly supported by the British Embassy Ljubljana.

Programme

16:00 – 16:45    Guided tour of the Museum of the Slovenian Language

17:00 – 18:15    Panel discussion and readings

18:15 – 18:30    Gaelic songs by Beth Frieden

18:30 – 19:30    Reception

Please RSVP to Peter Davey at ptrdavey@gmail.com

Ken Cockburn (1960) is a poet and translator based in Edinburgh, where he worked for many years at the Scottish Poetry Library. He was the first writer-in-residence at the John Murray Archive, National Library of Scotland, and was awarded the Arts Foundation Fellowship for Literary Translation 2008

Beth Frieden (1986) is an American poet who writes in English and Scottish Gaelic. Her debut pamphlet, Acair san talamh / Anchor in the land, was published by Stewed Rhubarb Press in 2023. She received a New Scottish Writer’s Award in 2021 from the Scottish Books Trust and was in the 2023-24 cohort of Genesis Emerging Writers.

David Kinloch (1959) is the author of six collections of poetry, most published by Carcanet Press, the latest being Greengown: New and Selected Poems. In 2022, David received a Cholmondeley Award from the Society of Authors in recognition of his contribution to poetry.

Barbara Korun (1963, Ljubljana) has published eight poetry collections and received several Slovenian and international awards and nominations. She also writes reviews and essays and actively promotes poetry written by women. Her all-round creativity has been recognised both at home (Mira Award, 2020) and abroad (Regina Coppola Award, 2016).

Iva Jevtić (1976) is a poet, translator, and literary theorist. Her first poetry collection Težnost [Gravity] was published by Apokalipsa in 2005. In 2023, KUD Zrakogled published her second poetry collection Milost [Grace], which won the 2023 Veronika Prize for best poetry collection.

Milan Šelj (1960) is an award-winning Slovenian poet and translator. He is the author of five poetry collections for adults: Darilo [Gift] (2006), Kristali soli [Crystals of Salt] (2010), Gradim gradove [Building Buildings] (2015), Slediti neizgovorjenemu [Tracing the Unspoken] (2018), and Jezik je ključ [Language Is the Key] (2023). He has also published two poetry books for children: Kosmatice (2020) and Rime na veter [Rhymes in the Wind] (2024).

Organised and supported by the Municipality of Komen, ORA Krasa in Brkinov, the British Embassy, the Edwin Morgan Trust, the Centre for Slovenian Literature and the Slovenian Book Agency.

We have received the following message from Owen Groves:

I am contacting on behalf of the Slovenian Cricket Association, as I am a UK-based cricket player who represents the Slovenian national team. We are looking for cricket players in the UK with Slovene heritage or lineage who might be interested in representing the Slovenian national team.

If you are interested, please contact Owen directly by email:  owen_groves@live.com.

VTIS Great Britain is inviting to the following event:

From his little cottage beside the river flowing by Sedbergh in the north of England David Burbage has been enlivening warm relations between the peoples of Britain and Slovenia for as long as anybody can remember. Nobody has done more to bring us together.

David created and leads the »Lakeland Voices«, who tramp around the fells of the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales in fair weather and foul, singing stirring traditional songs in both English and Slovene.

On Tuesday 19th May, David and the »Lakeland Voices« set off by train for Slovenia, singing on the way on station platforms, in trains and in bars and pubs all the way along. Follow them on Facebook.

A folk dance group from Zreče visited Sedbergh in the north of England at the weekend to celebrate 21 years of the two towns being twinned.

The Zreče group performed in a social club and around the town. Sedbergh’s »Lakeland Voices« meanwhile sang inside the Church of St. Andrew in both English and Slovene. Slovenian Ambassador Sanja Štiglic drove up from London to take part in the celebration and thank the performers.

Evelina Ferrar, Chairwoman of The British-Slovene Society, interviewed David Burbidge when she went to Sedbergh to celebrate the town’s twinning with Zreče in Slovenia.

At the MOPS-9 Slovenian Language School, they are launching a new online lecture series titled Slovenian History of the 20th Century. The course offers an in-depth overview of recent Slovenian history, and will consist of three chapters, each delving into a period of Slovenian history in an informative, fun and engaging way:

1️⃣ Chapter 1: Early 20th Century – 23 June 2026 at 19:00 Ljubljana time (CET)

From Occupation and Resistance to the Socialist Heaven of the Balkans

2️⃣ Chapter 2: Late 20th Century – 24 June 2026 at 19:00 Ljubljana time (CET)

How Slovenia Navigated the 90s and Found Its Voice

3️⃣ Bonus Chapter: Recap and discussion – 2 July 2026 at 19:00 Ljubljana time (CET)

Extra Chapter devoted to discussion, Q&A, and everything you may have missed so far

The lectures will be delivered by Professor Aleksander Peklar, a respected history professor and the creator of the Izi zgodovina (Easy History) educational platform.

The lectures will be held online and conducted in English, so knowledge of Slovenian is not required. Each lecture consists of a 60-minute lecture and a 30-minute discussion.

Pricing: 25.5 € per lecture (paid for each chapter individually or as a lump sum of 76.5 €)

➡️ Those interested can apply here. ⬅️

Message from the Slovenian Embassy in London:

We are pleased to announce that The Angry Bat and Photon Gallery will once again participate in Photo London. As one of the leading international fairs dedicated to photography and visual arts, Photo London brings together renowned galleries, artists, publishers, and curators from around the world each year.

Taking place from 14 to 17 May 2026, this year’s edition will present an expanded format featuring a selection of galleries from Central and Eastern Europe.

PHOTO LONDON 2026

The Angry Bat & Photon Gallery

14 to 17 May 2026

National Hall, Olympia
Hammersmith Road, London W14 8UX

MORE INFO

Photon Gallery will present a curated selection of works by four significant artists: Gábor Kerekes, Jaroslav Rössler, Stane Jagodič, and Branko Lenart. The presentation traces the development of photography in Central and Eastern Europe during the second half of the 20th century, a period in which artists, working despite political restrictions, pursued innovative and experimental approaches while engaging in dialogue with avant-garde movements and modernism.

The Angry Bat will present a curated selection of contemporary photobooks, with a particular focus on Slovene author-driven projects by photographers Goran Bertok, Jošt Franko, Andrej Lamut, and Matej Sitar, as well as recent publications by international photographers Jari Salomäki and Karoliina Paatos, both of whom will be present at the fair for book signings.

Information from the publisher Istros Books:

26 May@ 6:30 pm, Blackwell’s Manchester
IN TRANSLATION: Miha Mazzini and Celia Hawkesworth in conversation
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/in-translation-miha-mazzini-and-celia-hawkesworth-in-conversation-tickets-1984978837136 

27 May @ 6 pm, SSEES, London
On the Outside: new books from Slovenia and Croatia
Please join us for a book presentation of ‘Erased’ by Miha Mazzini and ‘Dying in Toronto’ by Daša Drndić.

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/arts-humanities/events/2026/may/outside-new-books-slovenia-and-croatia

This event brings together the latest work from Slovenian author, Miha Mazzini and the late Croatian author, Daša Drndić, with two new books in English that examine the lives of those on the periphery of society, ignored by authorities and erased from public consciousness. Join author Miha Mazzini and translator (and former Senior Lecturer at SSEES) Celia Hawkesworth in conversation with publisher Susan Curtis.

Organised by the UCL SSEES Southeast European studies seminar series, supported by Istros Books.

About Erased by Miha Mazzini (published by Fly on the Wall press)
When a “software error” erases Zala from the system, she discovers that officially, she and her newborn don’t exist. As Zala fights desperately to prove her existence, and save her child from adoption, she uncovers the Kafkaesque reality of Slovenia’s system – one that erased 25,671 citizens on February 26, 1992. A chilling thriller about bureaucracy as violence, and one mother’s battle against the state.

About Dying In Toronto by Dasa Drndic (translated by Celia Hawkesworth and published by Istros Books)
All of Drndic’s award-winning work fluctuates between fact and fiction, and ‘Dying in Toronto’ gives an account of the author’s first year in Canada as a refugee, in 1995. While the book is written in form of essays, it is clearly shaped to tell of that year as a story, and the result is unique in both form and content, combining new techniques of creative personal confession and acute social perception, which offer a rare depth of insight and breadth of perspective on the real, difficult life of an immigrant.

Speakers

Miha Mazzini is the author of more than 30 books, published in 15 languages, and has stories featured in prestigious anthologies including Pushcart Prize 2012 and Best European Fiction 2018. He is also a screenwriter and director of multiple prize-winning films.

Celia Hawkesworth taught at the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies from 1971 to 2002. She began translating fiction in the 1960s and to date has published some 40 titles. Recently she has been translating works by Daša Drndić: Belladonna was shortlisted for the EBRD Literature Prize 2018 and the Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize 2018, and won the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation 2018. EEG won the Best Translated Book Award in 2020 and the AATSEEL Best Literary Translation Prize in 2021. Her translation of Ivo Andrić’s Omer Pasha Latas won the Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation prize in 2019.

Three British-Slovene Society members got up early on 1^st May to celebrate May Day in Oxford. Evelina and Marcus Ferrar are with Anja Mohorko who played drums.

https://www.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/news/25130444.pictures-thousands-flock-city-centre-may-morning/#gallery5

Message from the Slovenian Embassy in London:

Exhibition Opening Thursday 30 April, 6 – 8 pm

On display until 10 July 2026

Austrian Cultural Forum London

28 Rutland Gate, London SW7 1PQ

MORE INFO & RSVP

Join artists Jasmina Cibic, Claire Morgan and Oliver Ressler for a special Touch Nature Artist Talk  on Tuesday 9 June 2026 at 7pm.

In the group exhibition Touch Nature, acclaimed artist Jasmina Cibic joins Claire Morgan and Dafna Talmor in a compelling visual dialogue alongside more than fifteen Austrian and Austria-based artists. Together, they confront the profound political, economic, ecological, and humanitarian consequences of the Anthropocene

Jasmina Cibic (b. 1979, Ljubljana, Slovenia) is a Slovenian artist and filmmaker based in London, UK. She studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia (1998–2003) and earned an MA in Fine Art from Goldsmiths College London (2003–2006). Working across film, installation, and performance, her practice examines the relationship between art, architecture, and political power. Recent exhibitions include Most Favoured Nations at Museum der Moderne Salzburg (2022), Stagecraft – Une mise en scène du pouvoir at Musée d’art contemporain de Lyon (2021), The Palace at Museum Sztuki Łódź (2021), and The Foundation of Endeavour at Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova, Ljubljana (2020). She represented Slovenia at the 55th Venice Biennale (2013). Awards include the Film London Jarman Award (2021), B3 Biennial of the Moving Image Award (2020), MAC International Ulster Bank and Charlottenborg Fonden prizes (2016), and Best Artist’s Film at Aesthetica Film Festival (2024). In 2026, she also received the prestigious Prešeren Fund Award, the highest recognition in the Republic of Slovenia for artistic achievements.