Croatian Book Night 2026 to kick off at NSK on 23 April
23 April 2026, 12.00
The celebratory, 15th edition of the Croatian Book Night, marking World Book and Copyright Day together with Croatian Book Day and spotlighting the importance of books and reading with regard to major social issues, will traditionally kick off at the National and University Library in Zagreb (NSK).
Opening in the Library’s grand lobby at 12.00, this year’s Night will offer a buoyant alternative to threats posed by the recent growth in armed conflicts and issue an urgent appeal for peace, understanding, tolerance and dialogue.
United in bookhood and determined to read the world to peace
The Night’s over 1,000 upcoming events on 266 locations all across Croatia will include everything from quizzes and other types of games and competitions, visual art, writing, music and other creative workshops and reading events to get-togethers with authors, plays, open forums, performances, musical shows and other programmes.
Apart from libraries, more than 600 participating institutions will include schools, universities, art galleries, museums, correctional institutions, care homes, sports associations, even a planetarium and a brewery. Also, with programmes that will be taking place on means of public transport and in the open – in parks, squares, by the sea – the Night will take its message of peace as far and to as diverse audience as possible.
NSK, the Night’s good old launch site
Traditionally the site of the Night’s opening, NSK will again host its kick-off. Starting on 23 April at 12.00 in the Library’s grand lobby, the opening programme will include addresses by the NSK Director General Dr Ivanka Stričević, Director of the Zagreb City Libraries Dr Sunčica Ostoić, President of the Publishers and Booksellers Association of the Croatian Chamber of Economy Slavko Kozina, the representative of the Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and Youth and of the Croatian Ministry of Culture and Media, with whose support the Night has been organised since its inception.
The programme will also include a performance by Croatian interdisciplinary artists Sara Renar and Goran Matović drawing on the verses of a great Croatian poet Tin Ujević (San i ludilo; Dreams and madness), the presentation of the results of the latest survey into Croatian citizens’ reading and book-related habits and attitudes as well as the announcement of the winners of this year’s Night’s competition which the Croatian Association of School Librarians organised for primary and secondary-school pupils.
In addition, the visitors at the opening will be able to see an exhibition of Croatian Book Night-themed cartoons by Stipe Kalajžić starring Peacebert Bookowski, another Night’s mascot authored by graphic designer Boris Kuk.
Revisiting the great peace advocates of Croatian and world culture
Evoking universal peace symbolism, Peacebert is a winged, homing pigeon version of Miroslav Krleža, a canonical 20th-century Croatian writer and one of the most prominent anti-war voices of Croatian literature, the 45th anniversary of whose death is marked in 2026.
As as fictional as inspiring an ambassador of this year’s edition of Croatia’s greatest national celebration of books and reading, Peacebert is at the forefront of a wide variety of the Night’s programmes bringing to the attention of the public the peace-focused legacy of other central figures of Croatian and world literature the anniversaries of whose births and deaths we are also commemorating this year, such as Nikola Tesla (quite probably the world’s most famous pigeon lover), Federico Garcia Lorca and Jorge Luis Borges.
The Night will provide a platform for contemporary messages of peace as well, from today’s famous Croatian writers such as Slavenka Drakulić, Julijana Adamović, Damir Karakaš, Bruno Šimleša, Snježana Babić Višnjić, Edo Popović, Boris Perić, Martina Divić, Nada Mihaljević, Nives Madunić Barišić, Maja Šimleša, etc. In addition, other artists and creatives, such as painters, actors and musicians, including philosophers, mental health experts and various Croatian public figures ranging from Tisja Kljaković Braić, through Nadežda Čačinovič, to Jadranka Kosor and many others will likewise be part of the Night’s programme.
The Croatian Book Night’s tradition of humanitarian initiatives continues
The Night’s each edition includes efforts to make the world a better place through books and reading. This year it focuses on a book donation campaign for the inmates of the correctional facilities in Varaždin and Požega and providing reading material to make their time with their children when they come to visit them a positive and uplifting experience.
For the fourth year in a row, the Night and the Croatian Ministry of Culture and Media jointly continue to support both the Ukrainian refugees in Croatia and Ukrainian publishers by making available their titles in Croatian public libraries.
Finally, all profit from the sale of the Night’s promotional T-shirts, bags and other merchandise will be donated to a Split-based Udruga Autizam 365 association, which provides support to persons with autism and their families or caretakers through educational and inclusion-focused programmes and counselling.
Organised by the Publishers and Booksellers Association of the Croatian Chamber of Economy, National and University Library in Zagreb, Zagreb City Libraries, books-and-literature-oriented e-zine and web portal Moderna vremena, Croatian Publishers Licensing Society (ZANA) and the Croatian Association of School Librarians, the Croatian Book Night is supported by the Croatian Ministry of Culture and Media, ZANA, the Croatian Chamber of Economy and City of Zagreb, with the Croatian Radio Television, 24 sata media company and VidaTV television production company acting as media sponsors.