Bled before Bled:
Paolo Giordano

The author visit is taking place within the context of the 57th International Writers' Meeting at Bled, Slovenia, organised by the Slovenian PEN Centre and the Writers for Peace Committee with a main focus on Climate Crisis and Wars, and at the initiative of the Mladinska knjiga publishing house. 

The talk – as the opening event of this year's Bled International PEN meeting, is dedicated to Paolo Giordano's latest novel, Tasmania, which captures the fear, anxiety, wonder, and beauty of our time of uncertainty, exploring how we can create and maintain relationships with other people when it feels increasingly difficult to connect. The novel depicts a world hit by a new crisis every day – floods, tsunamis, hurricanes, terrorist attacks, wars – and whose future is becoming increasingly uncertain. His past marred by personal disappointments, a writer, Paolo sets out in search of connection and purpose at a tipping point with climate change and global upheavals. His anguish exemplifies the broader crisis of an entire generation, characters struggling to find their own Tasmania – a safe haven in which to weather the coming crises.

Best-selling Italian writer Paolo Giordano is the Strega Prize–winning author of The Solitude of Prime Numbers (2010). He is also the author of the critically acclaimed books Like Family and The Human Body. In Slovenian translation, Mladinska knjiga has published The Solitude of Prime Numbers (La solitudine dei numeri primi, 2010), The Human Body (Il corpo umano, 2013), Heaven and Earth (Divorare il cielo, 2020) and How Contagion Works (Nel contagio, 2020). His books have been translated into more than thirty languages and sold millions of copies.

The author event will be hosted by literary translator and Jungian psychotherapist, Breda Biščak. The talk will be held in English and Slovenian with simultaneous translation.