Nova Istra

238 NOVA ISTRA Journal for Literature, Art and Culture Zeitschrift für Literatur, Kunst und Kultur Rivista di letteratura, arte e cultura Pula, Croatia / Kroatien / Croazia, No. 4/2017 The contemporary literature section includes new drama (recent adaptations of Grimms’ fairy tales), fiction and poetic contributions by already distinguished aut- hors as well as the ones whose time is just to come. New translations includes only French authors, i.e. extractions from Flaubert’s correspondence (with George Sand, Maupassant, Turgeniev, Zola...), followed by two lately published essays (interviews, actually) on Flaubert by French contem- porary writers. The essay section is first on the role of Janko Polić Kamov (Rijeka, 1886 – Bar- celona, 1910) – the Croatian exquisite and strange literary genius from the last century – in the context of European cultural streams:“J. P. Kamov and the Philo- sophy of Absurd”. The new biographical novel about Einstein’s first wife Mileva by Slavenka Drakulić is polemically presented in the other essay. The section on philosophy (aesthetics) deals with Julije Knifer (Osijek, 1924 – Pariz, 2004), one of the most significant 20 th c. Croatian artists who was also inter- nationally recognised; among other things, this is about the spirituality of picture and picture as a conceptual event. The native region contribution presents Pula, the main naval port in the Austro- Hungarian Monarchy, in 1914 – the social, cultural, sport life... of this Middle European-Mediterranean town that was so much important at that time, prior to the Sarajevo Assassination and before the beginning of the Great War. Literary reviews are included in the last section of this issue, providing insights into new publications by some Croatian, Danish and American writers, and Cro- atian historiographers. Translation: R. Šamo, Pula