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Evelina Ferrar

May 20

The British-Slovene Society Annual Picnic

By Events, First page No Comments

We warmly invite you to join us from 12 noon till 4.30 p.m. on Saturday 28th June for the Annual Picnic in the Oxford University Arboretum at Nuneham Courtenay. We will meet again by the kozolec (Slovene hay rack).

Bring your own picnic and drinks, deckchairs, picnic blankets, your kids, grandchildren and friends. As is usual among Slovenes, we encourage you to bring plenty to eat and drink and share it with everyone!

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This splendid Arboretum is close to Nuneham Courtenay House, where Lewis Carroll would row the young Alice Liddell (Alice in Wonderland) and her sisters on the River Thames on a summer afternoon.

It is situated just south of the village of Nuneham Courtenay on the A4074 road from Reading, eight miles south of Oxford. The postal code is OX44 9PX. From London it can be reached by the M40, exit 8, A40 to Oxford, then southwards round the Ring Road (A4142) on to the A4074 towards Reading.

If you intend to come to Oxford by train and need transport to the Arboretum, please mail to evelina@ferrar.org.uk or call 07584 199 177 and we will do what we can to help.

The Arboretum has kindly agreed to mow the area around the hayrack, which has recently suffered some damage and we are not allowed to climb on it. Adults attending the British-Slovene picnic pay the entry fee i.e. £3 instead of the regular price £4. Children and Members of Oxford University (bring your card) enter for free.

More information on the Arboretum can be found at https://www.harcourt-arboretum.ox.ac.uk/.

We hope we can welcome many of you as we celebrate and enjoy an afternoon around the kozolec – one of the most traditional symbols of Slovenia and its culture.

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May 20

Music for Ascension Day

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London Gallus Consort will sing renaissance choir music at the Church of St. Andrew by the Wardrobe (nearest tube station: Blackfriars) on 29 May at 8 pm.

We are well acquainted with this excellent choir: in the same church it has been performing at the British-Slovene Society’s Christmas Carol services for the last few years. This time they will perform masterpieces by Tomas Luis da Victoria, Christopher Tye, Thomas Tallis, William Byrd, Peter Philips and Jacobus Gallus, who came from present-day Slovenia.

All welcome.

 

 

Apr 02

Interview with a Slovenian for The Telegraph

By News No Comments

As part of their coverage of the May 22 European elections, The Telegraph is looking at immigration and the impact it has had on the UK.

They would like to have somebody from Slovenia who could come into The Telegraph this week to talk about why they came to the UK, what they miss from home, and what they think about immigration in general. It would take roughly half an hour of their time. They are hoping to get one representative from each of the 28 EU member states.

They are keen to get a range of people – so are looking for people of all ages and backgrounds. They would pay their expenses for travelling to London and into the office (which is directly above Victoria station).

If anybody is interested, please call Harriet on 07825 850548 or email her on harriet.alexander@telegraph.co.uk.

Mar 03

Slovene Poetry Reading in Oxford

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Matej Klemen, lecturer in Slavonic studies at the University of Nottingham, brought visiting Slovene poet Katja Perat to a reading in Oxford. The audience mostly consisted of the Slovene students in Oxford who recently established The Oxford Slovene Society. We enjoyed the interesting discussion about art and the matters of the world.

Oxford, Katja Perat 2

This is Matej’s report:

V petek, 28. februarja, sva s Katjo odpotovala v Oxford na literarni večer. Prostor sta prijazno odstopila Evelina in Marus Ferrar. Večera se je udeležilo 15 obiskovalcev, med njimi so bili večinoma slovenski študentje, člani pred nedavnim ustanovljene The Oxford Slovene Society. Če je literarni večer čas za lepo besedo, pametna vprašanja publike in odgovore na mestu, potem smo imeli pravi literarni večer. Klepet se je nadaljeval ob obloženi mizi, večer pa je zaokrožila Chopinova Balada št. 1, ki nam jo je na klavir zaigral doktorski študent fizike Sašo Grozdanov.

Oxford, Sašo za klavirjem (2)

Feb 18

Literary Evening with Katja Perat in Oxford

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The British-Slovene Society co-organises a literary evening with the Slovene poet Katja Perat on Friday 28th February 2014 at 7 p.m. at Evelina and Marcus Ferrar’s House, 7 Capel Close, Summertown, Oxford OX2 7LA

The evening will be in Slovene and English. Free entry.

RSVP: matej.klemen@nottingham.ac.uk

Katja Perat, photo by Tihomir Pintar

Katja Perat, photo by Tihomir Pintar

Katja Perat, born 1988, is a Slovene poet and literary critic. Her first collection of poetry, Najboljši so padli (The Best Have Fallen) was warmly received by readers and critically acclaimed, receiving several awards including for the best debut of 2011. Perat’s poems are sharp, ironic and to the point.

 

Feb 17

Pust Carnival Celebration with Slovene Doughnuts in London

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Come and celebrate a pust in Camden Centre in London on 8th March – the traditional Slovene carnival chasing the winter away. Five kurents (masked figures) and a devil will come over to join the chase. With live music by Zoran Predin, No Name Blues Band and DJ Spook with international repertoire of music, best costume awards, Slovenian food and drink. Everybody gets a proper Slovene doughnut!

Come wearing a costume – at midnight the best mask/costume will be awarded with a weekend package for two in Spa and Hotel Primus in Ptuj – price provided by the Slovenian Tourist Board and Sava Hotel.

Members of the British-Slovene Society will receive a free coupon for a drink.

Tickets available from the following websites:

https://www.seetickets.com/Event/first-slovenian-carnival-pust-in-london/camden-centre/767653

or

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/carnival-pust-fasching-slovenian-way-tickets-10506365823

banner pust 333.pdf-1

 

Feb 09

Lisa won Gorenje’s washing machine

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The British-Slovene Society’s annual Prešeren dinner in London on 8 February was livelier than ever. Over 110 people participated, many of them students and young professionals. Shirlie Roden and Zoran Predin created a lovely atmosphere with their singing, and Prešeren’s poems were recited with great passion and drama.

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The Slovene actress Barbara Predin, who flew in specially for the occasion, gave a magical recitation of  Prešeren’s The Water Man.

With the sale of raffle tickets, we collected £343 for the Barka charity we support. The first prize, a washing machine donated by Gorenje, went to Lisa (left, below). She was very happy. For more pictures see Gallery.

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Jan 23

Barka, the charity we support

By Barka, First page, News No Comments

The British Slovene Society has been supporting Barka since 1997. It is a charity run by L’Arche, the Canadian parent charity which operates internationally, and was the first charity of its kind to set up in Slovenia in the village of Zbilje, close to Medvode, about 20 kms north of Ljubljana.

barka

By coincidence, David Lloyd, our Chairman, lived in Zbilje when he was  Ambassador to Slovenia and came to know Skupnost Barka well as neighbours and friends. It was the then Society Chairman, Keith Miles, who approached David in search of a ‘good cause’ in Slovenia to donate money collected by the British-Slovene Society, as a result of which the connection was forged. Shirlie Roden, one of our Trustees, and a long-standing lover of Slovenia, has brought her music to the community on a number of occasions.

Historically, Društvo Barka, under the tireless stewardship of Manca and Klemen Kastelic, has lived a hand-to-mouth existence. Staff who come from all over Europe are voluntary and devoted to their work. Only relatively recently has the State made some modest funding available and some money has come from the EU. Barka now has two residential villas  and a magnificent workshop/studio/chapel complex built and donated by a German benefactor. Its 25 or so residents, some who board and some who attend daily, are fully integrated into the Zbilje community and much loved by them.

We invite anyone wishing to donate to Barka to contact the British-Slovene Society Treasurer, Gorazd Kert on treasurer@britishslovenesociety.org.

If you wish to learn more about Barka in Slovene, see https://www.barka-drustvo.si.

Here is their blog where they report on their events: https://skupnostbarka.blogspot.com/.