On Thursday, December 9, 2021, the writer, librarian and former professor of supply teaching lessons of Slovenian at the Association of Slovenians Triglav Banja Luka presented her new book Coffee Club. The reason for the book was the crisis caused by the corona virus pandemic, because there was much more time to create it.
Barbara Hanuš is the author of books for children, and now she has tried her hand at writing for adults. The nursing home seemed to her the right environment for the creation of her new book. She presented the home for the elderly as an opportunity to create a circle, a new circle of people, and chatting over coffee is like being created for weaving new connections. She said she was led by the thought that she wanted to do something that older people would be able to read. Although they have read many quality works in their lives, they want simple language to make it easier to follow the story. The book is also simply printed - enlarged letters, line spacing, the book is also easy to read. We are an aging society, so it is necessary to think from the point of view of architecture and reading - what an older person will be able to read. Even in old age, it’s time to read.
The main literary figures are the ladies who are in the nursing home. It is not said that a nursing home is something terrible. There are women in the story who hang out over coffee. They give each other strength, hope and joy. The gift they give you for years is time, the author emphasizes. There is a lot of time, the ladies find out, and they are wondering what to do with it. In the book, the author also touches on the topic of immigration, views on age and how different lives and views on oneself are. As we read The Coffee Club, we may wonder what our circle is like in life, and what it will be like in old age. The action takes place in Primorje, because the motifs of the lighthouse and the coast are extremely interesting to the author.
She read some stories from her book. The introductory text is entitled Coffee. On the cover of the book we read reflections on the book by actress and poet Saša Pavček.
Barbara Goršič
Translation Ana Marjanović
