In its day, the “pranger” was a pillory set up in the middle of the town square, onto which criminals were tied. Its purpose was public punishment, in which the townspeople could participate with their remarks and comments.
With the Pranger Festival, the Pranger literary society nurtures criticism, translation and reading of poetry, with the Translation Pranger the reflection of various forms of translation and with the ELA – Little Pranger it dedicates itself to the creativity and the cultural-artistic critical upbringing of the youngest. With the Pranger Lyrikbook program, poetry is placed in an international context.
The festival, which every year attracts poets, critics and translators, isn’t about tying anything to the pillory. Quite the opposite, we put poetry on a pedestal. Its purpose isn’t humiliation but the critical evaluation of Slovene and international poetry and bringing it closer to the people. With the conceptual discussions and critical debates, we discover the potential of poetry through poetry as well as evaluate the Slovene poetry collections, published in the last year, which experts have deemed most deserving of discussion. We also offer a platform to translators and critics, many of whom cut their teeth on this exact festival. Also, part of the programme is geared towards the youngest, another towards university students and high schoolers.
