On 22 October 2022, at the Astorya Hotel in Banja Luka, the bilingual book "Under the Sea" by Milica Marjanović, a member of the Association of Slovenians of the Republika Srpska "Triglav" Banja Luka, was promoted.
This is her first book which she wrote when she was 9 years old. In the book "Under the Sea", the girls Mila and Maja, with the help of the fairy Lila, become mermaids, gain strength and help the sea emperor Neptune to return his crown, which was stolen from him by the king of the fish town. In an interesting adventure, they encounter various obstacles that they successfully overcome.
The promotion was moderated by our famous writer Aleksandra Čvorović, and besides Milica, there were also the illustrator Anabela Počić and the Slovenian language teacher in Banja Luka and Prijedor, Barbara Goršič, who also proofread the translation into Slovenian.
Ana Marjanović, a member of the Executive Board, greeted those present on behalf of the "Triglav" Association, and emphasized that one of the tasks of the Association was the preservation of the Slovenian language, which, among other things, is implemented through the publication of bilingual books. This is the first book that the "Triglav" Association translated from Serbian to Slovenian.
Milica explained that she came up with the idea to write about this topic by playing with her friend Iskra, during which they pretended to be mermaids. The illustrator Anabela talked about how challenging it was to make the illustrations and how she and Milica were in contact to agree on the illustrations. Barbara Goršič reflected on some doubts she had during proofreading. The presenter stated that it was actually imagination that prepared us for successful artistic careers.
The promotion of the book, in addition to members of the "Triglav" Association, was attended by pupils and representatives of Slovenian associations from Slatina, Sarajevo, Kakanj and Prijedor. The event was media covered by RTRS as part of the preparation of the show "Mala Evropa".
The book was published with the financial support of the Office of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia for Slovenians Abroad, the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Republic of Srpska and the City of Banja Luka.
Ana Marjanović
