As part of the 21st Vinodol Summer Evenings (21. Vinodolske ljetne večeri) I was a guest at the splendid Hotel Village Balatura in Tribalj on 26th July 2022. The owner Anne-Kathrin Godec arranged a small gathering for the hotel’s guests and interested visitors in which herself and I discussed my new book – the English translation of Vladimir Nazor’s classic story of Veli Jože.

As I was the first ever translator to be a guest at the Hotel’s regular events it was particularly interesting to take part. We talked about many aspects of the translation process and how translators work. And of course we also spoke at length about Veli Jože – what the story means, about the characters, how it is still an important piece of Croatian literature, its significance to Croatian identity and ultimately about freedom.

The audience also took part with some very interesting questions about translation, language and publishing. I was honoured to be a guest and I am very grateful to Anne-Kathrin, her husband Gordan and children for such a warm welcome and stay at the hotel.

If you do not know about Hotel Balatura then I thoroughly recommend visiting their website here. – and their Facebook page here. They offer a superb relaxing stay in a renovated old stone built farmstead, vegetarian food, an outdoor pool, rooms for seminars, yoga, and the rooms are stunning – I stayed in the Fijolica (Violet) room….. it has a four-poster bed, a huge open fireplace, a balcony with a hammock and the bathroom has a sunken mosaic-lined bath…..

I highly recommend visiting the Hotel Village Balatura, even if only for their delicious vegetarian menu 🙂 Thanks again Anne-Kathrin and family.