On Thursday, March 31, 2022, we hosted Barbara Hanuš, a long-time (now former) teacher of the Slovenian language in Banja Luka, Slatina, Prijedor, librarian and master of Slovenian literature, as part of the Slovenian language lectureship at the Faculty of Philology of the University of Banja Luka . With her rich literary work for children, reading books for elementary school students, and the book Coffee Club, she presented herself as a writer for adults.
In the first part, Barbara Hanuš presented her books in the field of literature for youth, emphasizing the importance of the illustrator, who is also or primarily a reader. There is multiculturalism in Barbara's literature, which has enriched the author both privately and professionally. Thus, some of her books were created thanks to her work experience in many fields of activity. At the same time, she points out that the preservation of the mother tongue is extremely important for immigrant children, so she presented the books Birthday, Masquerade, New Year's Tree, which were written not only in Slovenian but also in other languages, e.g. in Macedonian, Romani, Albanian, English.
In addition to multilingual books and picture books, Barbara Hanuš is also the author of stories that present a certain topic in a humorous way, because that way she approaches the young reader more easily and better. She is also the co-author of an interesting Dictionary as didactic material and a supplement to classes, and at the same time she read for elementary schools, where she again emphasizes the importance of multilingualism and multiculturalism.
She also wrote the interesting book Križkraž, Get to know Slovenia, whose goal is to get to know Slovenia in the teaching of Slovenian as a second and foreign language and to get to know Slovenian natural and cultural heritage.
Then, Barbara presented a collection of stories Coffee Club, in which she writes about transience and aging. She points out that she wrote the stories with older readers in mind, although the book is current and interesting for all readers due to a topic that is not widely represented in literature. Certainly, the book has a simple but rich writing style with many lyrical descriptions and detailed quotations.
Barbara Hanuš read stories from her literary work at the presentation of her literary work.
The literary evening ended with a short presentation of coffee in a cultural and literary sense, prepared by Janja Volmajer Lubej, and then the attendees watched an animation by Dušan Kastelić on the song Čikor an kafe by Iztok Mlakar.
At the end of a really wonderful literary evening, which was designed by Barbara Hanuš with her rich literary creativity, the visitors could enjoy sandwiches, and Slovenian specialties.
The event, which was organized by the Slovenian Language Department of the Faculty of Philology of the University of Banja Luka, was financially supported by the Center for the Slovenian Language as a Second and Foreign Language.
We would like to thank the Association of Slovenians Triglav for their hospitality.
Janja Vollmaier Lubej
Translation Ana Marjanović
