The third edition of Ponta Lopud Book Bridge, a festival connecting the Croatian and Irish literary scenes, opened today at the Rector’s Palace on Lopud. Under the theme Memory, Belonging, Storytelling, the festival brings together writers, editors and translators for conversations, author readings and live storytelling until Saturday, 19 September. Guests and participants were welcomed by Tilda Grossel Bogdanović, founder of the Ponta Lopud Creative Platform, and writer and festival artistic director Staša Aras, followed by an introduction to this year’s participants.

“We conceived Book Bridge as a place where literature is given time. Lopud offers the peace and slower rhythm that create space for conversations rarely possible at larger festivals – and it is precisely from such conversations that new friendships, collaborations and ideas emerge. Following film and music, literature once again brings the island’s summer season to a close. We are especially delighted to be welcoming authors, editors and translators from Croatia and Ireland for the third consecutive year. This year’s theme – memory, belonging and storytelling – reminds us that stories grow out of both personal and shared experience, but also that it is stories that connect us across languages and borders,” said Tilda Grossel Bogdanović.

James Candon, who conceived the festival, added: “Ireland and Croatia have more in common than may be apparent at first: the experience of leaving and returning, memories of conflict, and strong ties to home and family. It therefore seemed natural to bring these two literary scenes into dialogue this year. I have been coming to Lopud for many years, and to me it has always been a place where people and ideas meet in unexpected ways. Book Bridge grew out of a desire to share that feeling with writers and readers.”

The opening conversation, Literature After Conflict: How Stories Help Us Live with Trauma, will bring together Martin Doyle, Books Editor of The Irish Times, whose book Dirty Linen: The Troubles in My Home Place – an account of the conflict in Northern Ireland – was shortlisted for the Dubray Non-Fiction Book of the Year at the 2023 An Post Irish Book Awards; writer and Fragment publishing house editor Edi Matić; and writer and journalist Faruk Šehić. The conversation will be moderated by James Candon and Staša Aras and will explore how literature helps individuals and communities confront conflict, inherited memories, loss and reconciliation.

Voices of Contemporary Ireland, moderated by James Candon, will feature readings by three Irish authors: Sheila Armstrong, whose novel Falling Animals received a Special Mention from the jury of the 2025 European Union Prize for Literature; poet Jessamine O’Connor, whose debut novel Somewhere, published this year, explores addiction, the housing crisis and solidarity in contemporary Ireland; and Louise Nealon, winner of the Sunday Independent Newcomer of the Year at the An Post Irish Book Awards for her novel Snowflake, whose new novel Everything That Is Beautiful became an Irish bestseller upon publication.

The first day will conclude with Pričigin – Bridge, an evening of live storytelling in which Croatian and Irish guests will share personal, unexpected and humorous stories. The storytellers are actor and poet Jelena Miholjević, Louise Nealon, Danijela Crljen, Marinko Koščec and James Candon. The evening will be hosted by literary translator Patricija Horvat, artistic director of Split’s Pričigin storytelling festival.

Tomorrow, the programme will resume at 10 am with Different Places, Different Stories: New Irish Writing and Fiction in “Our” Languages. Sheila Armstrong, Louise Nealon, Jessamine O’Connor, Faruk Šehić and Marinko Koščec will join moderators Aidan O’Malley and Staša Aras to discuss how changes in place, community and ways of life shape contemporary fiction. This will be followed by a presentation of two new Croatian novels: Dario Harjaček’s Stotina godina (2025) and Marinko Koščec’s Preko mosta (2026), moderated by Patricija Horvat and Staša Aras. The evening programme at 6 pm will feature author readings by Martin Doyle, Faruk Šehić, Jessamine O’Connor and Jelena Miholjević.

The festival’s final day, Saturday, 19 September, will open with Family Stories: Memory, Place and Legacy. Ivana Lovrić Jović, author of the novel Devet receptora za gorko, and Danijela Crljen will discuss how family memory and a sense of place shape literary narratives, in a conversation moderated by Staša Aras. This will be followed by Home, Exile and Belonging, featuring Oona Frawley, Shane Tivenan, Claire-Lise Kieffer and Faruk Šehić. Jelena Miholjević and Dario Harjaček will then discuss the dialogue between literature and theatre, while From Manuscript to Publication, a conversation with journalist, editor and translator Saša Drach, will consider opportunities for publishing work by festival participants. The closing programme at 6 pm will feature author readings by Dario Harjaček, Marinko Koščec, Staša Aras, Louise Nealon and Oona Frawley, followed by the conversation Why Do Stories Matter?, featuring Martin Doyle, Oona Frawley, Marinko Koščec and Dario Harjaček.

Admission is free, and the full programme is available at pontalopud.hr and on the Ponta Lopud Creative Platform’s social media channels.

The Ponta Lopud Creative Platform presents three summer cultural programmes in 2026, bringing together lovers of the arts, particularly film, music and literature. The Ponta Lopud Film Festival, the first of the three events, took place from 25 to 28 June. The second, the Ponta Lopud Jazz Festival, brought music lovers to the island from 27 to 29 August, while Ponta Lopud Book Bridge will turn Lopud into a literary retreat from 17 to 19 September and bring this year’s summer festival season to a close.