It gathered countless lovers of the written word, who had the opportunity, in addition to buying books, to attend numerous promotions and gatherings with authors.
The best were decided by an expert jury consisting of: Adisa Žero (president), Asmir Kujović, and Branko Vekić.
The Book of the Year award went to Semezdin Mehmedinović's work "A Small Novel About Silence," published by IK Buybook. The award for best novel was given to Andrej Nikolaidis for his work "Safari in Sarajevo," published by HENA COM. The best poetry collection, according to the jury, is "Peaks in the Fog" by author Haris Silajdžić, published by "Dobra knjiga." The best book for children and young people is "One Day on Our Blue Planet" by author Ella Bailey, published by Buybook.
The best non-fiction and essay book is "Narrating the City – Sarajevo, a City Created for Storytelling" by author Dževad Karahasan, published by SPKD "Prosvjeta."
Awards were also presented for best translation, best publishing project, visual and graphic design of a book, recognition for the best young author, and contribution to reading culture.
Speaking about the award he received for the novel "Safari in Sarajevo," Andrej Nikolaidis said that this award means a lot to him and that it is the first he has received in Sarajevo, making it special.
"The book is painful, but I also consider it necessary. After all, the topic is such that it was not possible to approach it in any other way. I approached it as scrupulously as I could, always being aware that we are talking about something traumatic. However, I wanted to be precise enough and direct enough in condemning everything that led to the 'Sarajevo safari,' as it is popularly called. And actually, to the wealthy, pathological Europeans who came for fun and killed the citizens of Sarajevo. As if they were little Serbian snipers, mortar launchers from Trebević..." said Nikolaidis.
SPKD "Prosvjeta" is the publisher of the best essay book, "Narrating the City – Sarajevo, a City Created for Storytelling" by author Dževad Karahasan.
The president of the association's board, Dejan Garić, said that the legacy of academician Dževad Karahasan is immense and extremely significant.
"I am truly glad that 'Prosvjeta' has the honor of being able to handle what he left behind. We owe great gratitude to Dragana Tomašević, who is also the editor of our publishing," emphasized Garić.
He assessed that the book "Narrating the City Sarajevo, a City Created for Storytelling," as the best essay book, shows how important this material is.
"It speaks about what Karahasan described in all his works. Cities, imaginary cities in every one of his novels. And here he writes about a real city. About Sarajevo, which he experienced in a special way and described in a special way," stated Garić.
The Sarajevo Book Fair was held on more than 10,000 square meters of exhibition space, and more than 200 exhibitors from the country and the world presented themselves.