Before the Slovenian Writers’ Association (DSP) decided to renovate Zajc’s apartment, and name it The Dane Zajc Writers’ Studio, it used another apartment in Šiška for similar purposes. Prior to being converted into a studio, the apartment in the Ljubljana neighbourhood of Prule was occupied by Zajc’s widow, Jerneja Katona Zajc. Regardless of the fact that the majority of the poet’s possessions went to the hands of his relatives and that his literary legacy is now owned by the National and University Library, there are still traces in the apartment reminding of the former tenant. The apartment is supposed to temporarily accommodate foreign writers and translators and is adequately equipped for that purpose. It also features a few creative ideas by Klavdija Zupan, who was in charge of the renovation.
Dane Zajc is considered to be one of Slovenia’s most significant poets of the 20th century. Very often he wore a black sweater, in accord with his poetry: somber, nihilistic, lonesome, wrapped in infinity. Zajc made his entry on Slovenia’s literature scene in 1958 with his first poetry collection Požgana trava (Burnt Grass), written in original unconventional tongue based on rich metaphoric language. Zajc died around ten years ago on the 20th of October 2005. He was also considered as one of Slovenia’s central playwright figures.
The studio will be open throughout the year
This year 17 authors and translators, most of them from Europe, will reside in the studio. They will each be in Ljubljana from a period of one week up to one month. The Slovenian Writers’ Association says the studio can accommodate two writers at a time. Those in the studio will have their living expenses covered. In the future the association would also like to offer scholarships to three or five of their guests through the European Network of Literature and Books - Traduki.
Available to those residing in the studio will be books by Slovenian authors translated in foreign languages – among them works by Drago Jančar, Suzana Tratnik, Goran Vojnović and Aleš Šteger. In his book Knjiga teles (The Book of Bodies) this is how Šteger describes Zajc’s apartment in Prule: "In front of the window of the old socialist building a crown of a chestnut tree, the light of day nearing its end. A modest interior, a table for one, for two."
