For the title of the TRADUKI programme at the Leipzig Book Fair 2026, we allowed ourselves to be inspired by this year’s focus topic „Donau – Unter Strom und zwischen Welten“, as TRADUKI is organising four events as part of the project. But also at other TRADUKI events we will focus on current literary trends in Southeast Europe – from impressive new voices to multi-award-winning authors. Words are like rivers: they can connect, divide, sweep you away or leave you cold. A river can change its meaning and appearance from bank to bank, from pier to pier. Is it the end point of one’s own world or a stepping stone towards new experiences? A full stop or an announcement?
In this year’s TRADUKI programme, we travel through multilingual soundscapes and track down hidden stories. Between personal catastrophes and political upheavals, which often go hand in hand, we travel from Moldova via Romania to Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia. We stop in North Macedonia and Bulgaria and go on a road trip through Montenegro, all thanks to translated new publications by Lorina Bălteanu, Iulian Ciocan, Ilija Đurović, Ena Katarina Haler, Maja Iskra, Frosina Parmakovska, Slađana Nina Perković, Justine Toms, András Visky and Marina Vujčić. The consequences of war and political turmoil have brought many authors to the north. Vernesa Berbo, Betty Boras and Jehona Kicaj write in German about their country of origin, sometimes strongly biographical, sometimes from a distance. With their books, Gabriela Adameșteanu, Slobodan Šnajder and Aleksandar Zograf succeed in creating epochal snapshots. Meanwhile the poetry of Ana Svetel and Robert Șerban is quieter, more subtle, and yet admonishing – as is the 250th issue of manuskripte, where the question is asked whether poetry is still possible after Srebrenica.
TRADUKI also offers space for political debates and will offer one slot to the explosive topic of the student protests in Serbia – with Anastazija Govedarica Antanasijević, Dejan Atanacković and Michael Martens. Dubravka Stojanović, Blerina Rogova Gaxha and Marko Dinić will discuss memory as a form of resistance.
It is impossible to imagine the Leipzig Book Fair without the legendary Balkannacht at the UT Connewitz. Slovenian rapper Masayah will captivate the audience with subtle beats and her very own flow. Feeling fluid and supple and on gentle waves, TRADUKI will end this year’s book fair edition.
May it for the Leipzig book fair audience not be the end but only the beginning of their Southeast European journey.
The TRADUKI Team
Angelika Salvisberg, Barbara Anderlič, Marija Karaklajić, Andrej Lovšin, Radmila Radovanović, Anna Schlossbauer