Slovene Writers' Association

The Slovene Writers' Association (Slovene: Društvo slovenskih pisateljev) is a non-profit association of Slovene writers based in Ljubljana.

The association was founded on 21 April 1872 in Ljubljana[1] at the initiative of Davorin Trstenjak who also became its first president. The statue of the organization was confirmed by the Duchy of Carniola on 10 May 1872.[1] The constituent congress was held on 14 September 1872 while regular meetings took place in the Hotel Evropa until the 1885.[1] It operated under various names over the years and re-adopted its original name Društvo slovenskih pisateljev in 1968. It provides a platform for writers, poets, playwrights and essayists who participate to promote common cultural and social inetersts.[2]

The association has also made considerable efforts in promoting Slovene literature abroad. Its international activities include maintaining contacts with cultural institutions and writers' societies all around the world and collaborating with literary journals and magazines.[3] Its own publication Litterae slovenicae (called Le Livre Slovène before 1991) publishes excerpts, poems and short stories by Slovene writers in translation, making Slovene literature available to a world audience.

It annually bestows the Vilenica Prize to a Central European author for his or her achievements in the field of literature and essay writing at the festival which takes place in the Vilenica Cave in the Slovenian Littoral.[4] Since 1986 it has also annually awarded the Jenko Award for the best poetry collection in Slovene published in the previous two years.