Nova Istra

453 tor’. She taught many people who are today eminent in cultural and public spheres, science fields and alike, not only in Pula and Istria, but all over Croatia. This lady is considered one of the important persons in the history of culture and the history of pedagogy in this region, due to her engagement with pupils and students, especially with young talented artists, in particular (future) writers. The contemporary literature is represented by a selection of various new texts (dia- ries, fiction, poetry) written by some very outstanding Croatian authors, without excluding some of those who have just peeped over the literary stage. Convincingly, though. Antun Gustav Matoš (1873-1914) is one of the most characteristic and important authors in the Croatian literature not only in 20 th century; he is also one of the greatest Europeans in our literature. So, it is not surprising that one of the most sig- nificant professional and literary gatherings, focused on his life and entire opus, was held in the small Istrian town of Rovinj last year, on the occasion of the centenary of his too early death, which coincided with the anniversary of the Great War. The es- says presented by eminent literary researchers and university ‘heads’ are completely included here. New translations first present pieces translated from Polish (about the Jewish dis- trict/ghetto in Warsaw in the Second World War) and then extracts from the Ital- ian and German literature. The section with studies and essays contains texts from philosophy, science of lit- erature and literary reviews; let us mention those on another two great Croatian authors who wrote in the last century – Miroslav Krleža (1893-1981) and Ranko Marinković (1913-2001). There is also one text on Montaigne, critical cognitive optimism, etc. Native region contributions, among other things, refer to the city of Pula during the last century wars, its urban and architectural problems, solutions, vistas… for the last hundred years… Finally, we also present new books by Croatian and foreign writers, fiction and poet- ry, but also polemical political non-fiction, sociology, and – very interestingly – the practice and theory of literary journals, the kind of literature that is not so common even in other languages and cultures. Translation: Renata Šamo, Pula