BOOK NIGHT´S ANTHEM

It’s only at night you realise
how many stars there are
in the sky.
How many brothers you feel
within your heart.
How many brothers of the world.
How many brothers of the world.
Only in the middle of the night
you realise how many eyes
are closing in slumber
and you are not alone
deserted
only at midnight
when the stars are shining
from above, from a golden dawn.
Each with a calm
silver-green face.

Srečko Kosovel
(translated by David Brooks)

BOOK NIGHT´S 2017 MISSIVE

Each night is a Book Night.

As a child, you reach for the things that surround you. I was surrounded by books in my childhood. Books were everywhere. They occupied the greater part of the walls of the houses I grew up in. Hence it is only natural that, out of a childlike curiosity, I felt inclined to reach for the books. Here, between the book covers, a whole new world was opening up to me – a parallel reality that I could immerse myself into without having to leave the bed. My favourite place to read was being tucked up in bed. I read before I fell asleep, and when I began drifting off to sleep, I sank into it, eagerly awaiting the morning when I would be able to return to the adventures of my second, secret life – life I shared with fictional characters. I was particularly fond of the weekends, for it was then when I  could stay in bed all day, lazing and reading, taking pleasure in the most beautiful leisure activity one can possibly imagine.

Books are living creatures to me. An organism that breathes. An enchanting organism that pulsates. Books are friends with whom I live, my companions through life. Nowadays I still prefer to read at night, before bedtime. I can hide with my friends in the night and live a different life – a life far away from all kinds of neuroses which aggravate our existence in an endlessly grey, boring, predictable world. To me, each night is a Book Night. The night of travels. Of adventure. Of hope. Of infinity.

Marko Tomaš
(Poet, columnist, writer. Mostar, Bosnia)

Svaka noć za mene je noć knjige.

Kada si dijete posežeš za stvarima kojima si okružen. Ja sam bio okružen knjigama. Knjige su bile posvuda. Zauzimale su veći dio zidova u kućama u kojima sam odrasta. Sasvim je, dakle, prirodno da me dječja znatiželja navela da posegnem za knjigama. Tu, između korica knjiga, otvorio mi se cijeli jedan novi svijet, paralelna stvarnost koja mi je omogućavala da putujem ne izlazeći iz kreveta. Najviše sam volio čitati ležeći u krevetu. Čitao sam prije spavanja i kada bi me san svladao tonuo sam u njega jedva čekajući jutro kada ću nastaviti avanturu, moj drugi, tajni život s junacima knjiga koje sam čitao. Zato sam posebno volio vikende kada nisam morao ići u školu pa sam, nakon što se probudim, mogao ostati u krevetu, izležavati se, ljenčariti i čitati, uživati u toj najljepšem hobiju koji dokoličari mogu imati.

Knjige su za mene živa bića. Organizam koji diše. Organizam čudesan, pulsirajući. Knjige su prijatelj uz kojeg živim, evo, gotovo cijeli život. Danas najčešće čitam noću, prije spavanja. U noći se moji prijatelji i ja možemo skriti i živjeti neki drugačiji život, daleko od svih neuroza koje nas pritišću u beskrajno sivom, dosadnom i predvidivom svijetu. Svaka noć za mene je noć knjige. Noć putovanja. Avantura. Nade. Beskraja.

Marko Tomaš
(Pjesnik, kolumnist, pisatelj. Mostar, Bosna.)

 Cada noche es la noche del Libro.

Cuando eres niño, recurres a todo lo que te rodea. Durante mi niñez yo estuve rodeado de libros. Los libros estaban por todas partes. Ocupaban la mayor parte de las paredes de las casas donde crecí. Fue completamente natural que la curiosidad infantil me impulsara a recurrir a los libros. Allí, entre las cubiertas de los libros se abrió ante mí un nuevo mundo, una realidad paralela que me ayudó a viajar sin salir de la cama. Como más me gustaba leer era acostado en la cama. Leía antes de dormir, y cuando el sueño empezaba a vencerme, me sumergía en el libro, esperando con impaciencia a la mañana siguiente cuando continuaría la aventura – mi otra vida, la vida secreta que viví con los héroes ficticios que encontré en los libros. Amaba los fines de semana cuando no tenía que ir a la escuela. Cuando me despertaba podía quedarme en la cama tumbado, y podía holgazanear y leer disfrutando de la afición más bella que los ociosos puedan imaginar.

Los libros para mí son seres vivos. Un organismo que respira. Un organismo milagroso que palpita. Los libros son los amigos con los que vivo y que me acompañarán durante toda la vida. Hoy en día suelo leer por la noche, antes de dormir. Puedo esconderme con mis amigos en la noche y vivir una vida diferente, lejos de todas las neurosis que nos agobian en un mundo inmensamente gris, aburrido y previsible. Cada noche es La Noche del Libro para mí. La noche del viaje. De la aventura. De la esperanza. De lo infinito.

Marko Tomaš
(Poeta, columnista, escritor. Mostar, Bosnia.)