United States is the partner country on this year’s tour.
The 10-year anniversary of the Bookstore Boat – Culture Boat was recently marked at the Museum of Arts and Crafts in Zagreb. During its long tradition, the boat has sailed in the vicinity of numerous coastal towns and islands, from Umag to Dubrovnik. Many renowned Croatian writers and authors have spent time on board promoting Croatian culture and theatre and encouraging literary creativity along the Adriatic coast, including the islands farthest away like Lastovo and Vis, reports Večernji List on June 5, 2016.
Every year, Culture Boat offers to its visitors free theatre shows, literary evenings, book promotions, concerts and educational workshops for kids and for the young people. This jubilee year, the Boat will host the most translated and bestselling Croatian writers in order to offer visitors a unique literary event. This time the sailing tour is dedicated to Marija Jurić Zagorka, the most widely read Croatian author in history and a woman who left a strong mark and influenced many generations with her works. The Boat will continue its tour on 23 July from Makarska.
The Boat project has gained an international character through the Partner Country feature. Slovenia was the first such partner in 2012, followed by Austria, Poland, and Hungary. This summer, the partner country is United States. A number of well-known authors from these countries had stayed on the Culture Boat and forged links with local authors, which has allowed them easier cooperation in both the cultural and translating segment.
The 10-year celebration event at the Museum of Arts and Crafts was opened with the performance of young musician Borna Šercar who played some classics on the bottles filled with water which he used instead of percussions. Miroslav Gašparović, the Museum director, and Igor Gerenčer, the head of the project Bookstore Boat – Culture Boat, greeted the guests who included many renowned Croatian writers, poets and authors such as Sanja Pilić, Silvija Šesto, Milana Vuković Runjić, Zoran Ferić, Enes Kišević, Hrvoje Šalković, Bruno Šimleša, Stjepo Martinović and others who were sailing on the Culture Boat at some point during its one decade-long history.
