Some of the best European and global authors will engage the audience through a public reading, a book presentation, discussions, lectures, literary workshops and meet-and-greets. Writers from all corners of the world will demonstrate their literary works as well as football skills.

The 2020 Festival of the European Short Story will open in Rijeka in collaboration with one of the most prestigious festivals in the world, the Hay Festival from Great Britain. The theme of this special Festival edition is Port of Diversity. The port as a place of meetings, exchanges, introductions and dialogues; diversity as richness, possibility and freedom form the backbone of this gathering of writers from all corners of the world, those who speak different languages and live in different cultures, those who uphold, question and challenge various traditions.

Elif Shafak, Hanif Kureishi, Aleksandar Hemon, Yann Martel, and Irvine Welsh are just a few of the literary stars who will be visiting the stages of the Festival of the European Short Story in Zagreb and Rijeka from 4 to 9 October.

Questions posed by the global public afflicted by the pandemic will permeate the events of the festival, whose central theme is the Port of Diversity. The festival will bring together writers and artists who deal with differences and those who are different in their works. Whether addressing racial, class, religious, gender or political diversity or fostering art practices that resist expected and common formats, whether dealing with the stories of “others”, such as refugees and migrants, or telling “different” stories, the participants of this year’s FESS from Croatia and abroad showcase the full complexity of the world and time in which we live.

This makes the collaboration in Rijeka as part of the European Capital of Culture between FESS and the Hay Festival (6-9 October), one of the most significant global literary events, all the more important. The Europa 28 – Women on the Future of Europe project offers potent visions of the future via 28 European female authors (writers, playwrights and directors, scientists, entrepreneurs and activists…) that have become current and meaningful again due to COVID-19. Live and digital, in Rijeka and in Zagreb, the Festival of the European Short Story continues disseminating stories by some of the world’s best writers and remains a highlight of the Croatian cultural scene.

THE FULL PROGRAMME OF THE 19TH FESTIVAL OF THE EUROPEAN SHORT STORY IS AVAILABLE AT THE LINK.

Rijeka 4–9 October 2020 @ Exportdrvo
Zagreb 6–9 October 2020 @ Kinoteka Cinema

Sunday, 4 October, Exportdrvo, Grobnička, Riva, Rijeka
2 pm 2020 FESS opening ceremony: No formalities, please!
Danger! Croatian writers cooking!
7 pm LIVE + STREAM: Festival opening ceremony
Discussion and reading
Aleksandar Hemon, Semezdin Mehmedinović

Monday, 5 October, FESS YouTube channel
12 pm DIGITAL PROGRAMME
Panel discussion
Stories from Exile: Literature and Human Rights in Great Britain and Europe
Marina Lewycka, David Herd, Anna Pincus
6 pm LIVE, Living Room Book Cafe, 12a Ciottina Street, Rijeka
Discussion
ELA VAROŠANEC KRSNIK
7 pm LIVE + STREAM, Exportdrvo, Grobnička, Riva, Rijeka
Discussion
Story-Driven
Nika Rukavina, Vladimir Tomić Mosk, Kristina Posilović, Zoran Štajdohar – Zoff
8.30 pm LIVE + STREAM, Exportdrvo, Grobnička, Riva, Rijeka
Discussions and readings
Reading and the FESS Short Story Competition for Young Authors award ceremony
Yann Martel (Canada), Mazen Maarouf (Iceland/Palestine), Senko Karuza (CRO), Neven Ušumović (CRO)

Tuesday, 6 October
12 pm DIGITAL PROGRAMME
Literary Europe Live Plus
Panel discussion
Alexandra Büchler, Sulaiman Addonia, Mazen Maarouf
7 pm LIVE + STREAM, Exportdrvo, Grobnička, Riva, Rijeka
Discussion
Irvine Welsh
8.30 pm LIVE + STREAM
Discussions and readings
Luiza Bouharaoua (CRO), Claudia Durastanti (ITA), Eduardo Halfon (Guatemala/USA)
7 pm HAY LIVE, Kinoteka Cinema, 1 Kordunska Street, Zagreb
Book promotion
Europa 28 – Women on the Future of Europe
Asja Bakić, Lisa Dwan, Renata Salecl and Apolena Rychlíková
8.30 pm HAY LIVE, Kinoteka Cinema, 1 Kordunska Street, Zagreb
Readings
Europa 28 – Women on the Future of Europe
Maarja Kangro, Karolina Ramqvist, Saara Turunen and Janne Teller

Wednesday, 7 October
6 pm HAY LIVE, Exportdrvo, Grobnička, Riva, Rijeka
Discussion
Elif Shafak
7 pm HAY LIVE, Exportdrvo, Grobnička, Riva, Rijeka
Book promotion
Europa 28 – Women on the Future of Europe
Karolina Ramqvist, Asja Bakić, Renata Salecl and Janne Teller
8.30 pm HAY LIVE, Exportdrvo, Grobnička, Riva, Rijeka
Readings
Europa 28 – Women on the Future of Europe
Maarja Kangro, Saara Turunen, Apolena Rychlikova and Lisa Dwan
8 pm HAY LIVE, Kinoteka Cinema, 1 Kordunska Street, Zagreb
Readings and the FESS Short Story Competition award ceremony
Senko Karuza, Milan Majerović Stilinović, AZ Stolica, Ivana Pintarić

Thursday, 8 October, Kinoteka Cinema, 1 Kordunska Street, Zagreb
8 pm LIVE
Discussion and reading
Maša Kolanović and Luiza Bouharaoua

Friday, 9 October, Kinoteka Cinema, 1 Kordunska Street, Zagreb
8 pm LIVE + STREAM: Festival closing ceremony
Discussion and reading
Hanif Kureishi