“Big Small Stories”: Croatian Book Month 2024 closes with its reading promotion quiz awards ceremony
On 15 November 2024, the National and University Library in Zagreb (NSK) hosted the awards ceremony of Big Small Stories, this year’s edition of the national online quiz aimed at the promotion of reading and held as part of the Croatian Book Month, Croatia’s annual national programme successfully spotlighting books and reading for almost thirty years.
The awards ceremony also marked the closing of the Month’s this year’s edition, themed I will listen to your story…. Organised by the Zagreb City Libraries public library network with the support of the Croatian Ministry of Culture and Media, the Month spotlighted the value of telling stories and literary forms making the basis of oral literature, such as fairy tales and legends.
The ceremony, which was chaired by the Head of the Croatian Centre for Children’s Books Isabella Mauro, included addresses by the coordinator of the 2024 Croatian Book Month Sara Džapo, Member of the NSK Governing Board and Head of the NSK Print Collection Tamara Ilić Olujić and the Head of the Books and Publishing Office of the Croatian Ministry of Culture and Media Dr Mihaela Majcen Marinić.
There are no small stories – if you listen
The quiz brought into focus three titles for children – the 1905 illustrated book for children (Menažerija) by the author of the iconic works of Croatian children’s literature and a six-time nominee for the Nobel Prize for Literature Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić (1874-1938), a picture book by Igor Rajki (Tminice) and another by Iva Bezinović-Haydon (Gdje se skriva Vedran?), published in 2023 and 2022, respectively.
Storytellers telling (their) stories
After the authors of the titles spotlighted as part of the quiz addressed the present visitors and this Month’s ambassador and the award-winning Croatian storyteller and writer Srebrenka Peregrin gave a captivating storytelling performance, the quiz winners were announced. Among altogether 16 winners, the winner of the first prize was Marija Banić, from the Gornja Poljica primary school.
