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Fanfest 9: A Celebration of Contemporary Fantasy and the Art of Imagination

The 2025 edition of Fanfest brought together writers, readers, and fans of speculative fiction in a vibrant celebration of imagination, creativity, and cross-cultural exchange. The festival unfolded between the 16th and 19th of October 2025 across several venues in Celje, with events ranging from panels and readings to workshops and presentations of new works. This year’s guiding themes were Contemporary fantasy and Green Celje, exploring both literary and ecological dimensions of modern storytelling.

More about extraordinary iteration of Fanfest 2025

25. 6. - 29. 6. 2025: Slovenian team CLD on a mission Eurocon in Finland

Celje’s Literary Society (CLD) has been presenting its fantasy projects beyond Slovenia’s borders for several years. This year, we decided to participate in Eurocon, the annual European science fiction festival organized under the umbrella of the European Science Fiction Society (ESFS). This year's event took place in Mariehamn, located in the distant Åland Islands of Finland. The Åland Islands are an autonomous region between Finland and Sweden with a turbulent history and many fascinating features.

This year’s Eurocon was part of the local convention Archipelacon 2, providing the broader European audience with an experience of a regional festival. Eurocon is held in a different country each year — last year it took place in the Netherlands, this year in Finland, and in the coming years, it will be hosted in Germany (Berlin 2026), Portugal (Lisbon 2027), and likely Croatia (Zagreb 2028).

Slovenia was represented in Europe by Dominik Lenarčič and Bojan Ekselenski from CLD.

Each Eurocon, in addition to lectures, promotions, and meetings, also includes two plenary sessions of the ESFS. Each country is represented by two delegates, and usual topics include discussions and voting on European awards for achievements in various categories, the selection of the Eurocon location two years ahead (based on the presentations of candidate countries), potential changes to the federation’s statute, and — as was the case this year — elections for the new ESFS Board. All functions are honorary and, like everything within ESFS, based on volunteerism.

The CLD team did not come for tourism, of course, but to promote Slovenian creativity and work in the field of fantasy literature.

Thanks to CLD, Slovenia had its own promotional booth and a presentation of the society, the Supernova magazine, and the Fanfest festival. We were also mentioned in the Archipelacon 2 festival brochure. Because of our booth, we received a brief spotlight presentation, and to increase visibility, we displayed a promotional banner.

Eurocon and similar conventions are mostly attended by people in their middle years, with the average age being around 45 to 50, although participants of all ages are present. The main focus is on speculative fiction in its broadest sense and on the presentation of fandoms (fan communities) from different countries. Lectures and presentations were held in the main Alandica Congress and Cultural Center and two conference halls in the Hotel Arkipelag. The main guests (Guests of Honor – GoH) are mostly writers.

This year's main guest was the world-renowned American author Jeff VanderMeer, whose works have also been translated into Slovenian. In addition to him, the Guests of Honour (GoH) included his wife, the acclaimed editor Ann VanderMeer, and Finnish writer Emmi Itäranta. The fourth GoH, Swedish author Mats Strandberg, had to cancel his appearance due to family matters.

Besides participating in the program, the GoHs strolled among the stalls, and I also took the opportunity to snap a selfie—after all, you don't meet a world-famous author every day.

What about everyone else? More than 900 people registered for the convention. They came from nearly all European countries, as well as from the USA, China, Canada, and Australia. In short, it was an incredibly diverse crowd, united by a love for speculative fiction in the broadest sense of the word.

Our booth attracted quite a bit of attention. After a 13-year absence from Eurocon (I was also part of the team in Zagreb in 2012), we returned to represent the smallest country present with a booth. Dominik and I ensured a professional presentation, with all promotional materials prepared in English. The booth also featured the English-translated book by Bojan Ekselenski: Underspace – The First Bojan Dawn There.

On Saturday, June 28 at 2 PM, we gave a presentation about CLD, Supernova, Fanfest, and CLD's open calls in the large conference hall of the Arkipelag Hotel. Vsesledje also had its most northerly presentation to date. The session attracted people from ten different countries, and we received many questions at the end. It’s important that people outside Slovenia are hearing about our authors—I hope this leads to publications in international magazines. Let foreigners read our authors, so it's not always the other way around.

The English edition of Supernova sold out quickly and, thanks to its professional preparation, received a lot of attention and travelled to many countries. This year’s edition was somewhat constrained by air travel limitations. We received a lot of requests for the PDF version and offers for collaboration. All of us involved in Supernova did an excellent job promoting Slovenian authors to a wider European audience, while also building the role of CLD—the only Slovenian organization dabbling in speculative fiction with a serious international presence. The Germans expressed interest in having a German-language version of Supernova next year to further promote Slovenian speculative fiction. Contributions for Eurocon Special 2, scheduled for release in 2026, are already being collected and content is being prepared.

Due to its active engagement on the European scene, CLD also has part of its website in English. On the ESFS list of European websites, Slovenia is represented by our site (http://Fanfest.si), to which we will soon add the brand-new Supernova website (supernova-magazin.eu). Key content is published bilingually, which has significantly increased website traffic and CLD’s visibility across Europe.

We returned to Slovenia with a pile of recommendations and ideas for further work. Given the considerable interest, we must consider introducing at least part of the Fanfest program in English or providing simultaneous translation. A new challenge...


	European Grandmaster award winner is Joell Wintrebert (FRA)

With Dominik, I’ve brought CLD—and thus Celje—onto the broader European map. Our eyes are now on next year’s Eurocon – MetropolCon in Berlin. But before that, our Fanfest...

More about Eurocon 2025 ...

Here are some photo moments

Photo: Bojan Ekselenski and Dominik lenarčič

19. 6. 2025: Magazine Supernova have web page

Supernova magazine has its own web domain: supernova-magazin.eu.

On the website you can find:

Everything about the current issue (English and Slovenian editions)
A short story or poem - nothing beats a fantasy sweetening
Access to the magazine archive
A few more goodies are in the works.

Magazine Supernova Issue Eurocon Special 1 - PDF and print version

Supernova Eurocon Special 1 is here! It's free for all mankind!

Editorial

Bojan Ekselenski (prevod v ANG: Dominik Lenarčič)

A Fantastical Urbi et Orbi

Slovene Prose

Andrej Ivanuša Coffee - 1 Euro
Aljoša Toplak How A Miracle Happens
Barbara Ribič Jelen Dream Job
Bojan Ekselenski The Truth Virus Or Archie Appers
The Reflection in Seven Lakes
Domen Mohorič Red Dawn
Dominik Lenarčič Acid Raindrops
Devil Himself
Ivan Šokić Threat From Wthin
Majda Arhnauer Subašič Anger Of The Godness Ekvorna
Matjaž Marinček Base Station
Miha Mazzini Day Of The Living Death
Eternity
Primož Jenko Universal Remover

Guest Prose

Deborah Walker Pure and Without Savour
Eric Johansson My Kindom Underneath
Frank Roger One More Kiss
Gareth D. Jones Auroch, Cave Bears And Other Charismatic Megafauna
Krzysztof T. Dąbrowski The Meeting
A Prayer for the Meaning of Life
The Clever Way Of Reducing the High Price
Tihomir Jovanović Friday Night Fever
Zoran Živković First Photograph

Poetry

Lawrence Schimel The Hound of Ulster
Excalibur
Matej Krajnc The Count Of 7-11
Nada Tržan-Herman Angels, Death And A Dog

Call

Call For Fanfest
Standing Call For Supernova
Standing Call For Vsesledje

About Celje's Literary Society

We’ve been doing some fantastic things recently…

24. - 25. may 2025: Celje’s Literary Society (CLD) at the colourful festival Na meji nevidnega

The offerings of the Slovene incarnation of Comic-Con

Na meji nevidnega (literally ‘On the border of the invisible’) is the Slovenian version of Comic-Con which comes from, you guessed it, the US of A. Everything began long ago, in 1972 to be precise, in San Diego (California, where else?), where the original event has been lightening and darkening for 50+ years. Since then, the festival model has been evolving, gaining derivations and spreading around the world. Thus, in the “distant” year of 2013, it found refuge in Slovenia as well and found shape as the one-day festival Na meji nevidnega (NMN).

The Slovene edition began in the rooms of the Bolero dance school and quickly outgrew them – its home has been the ‘Gospodarsko razstavišče’ for some years now. Given its size, it belongs there.

Since this year, it’s a two-day event, not far behind in scope after the Zagreb Sferakon. Here are some numbers:

Around 5.000 visitors,
17 associations more or less tied to fantasy,
64 shops, catering to fantasy lovers in different ways,
8 food and drinks vendors,
37 contributors in Artists’ Alley.

NMN can be found online, where you can learn more from first-hand and second-hand accounts: https://nmn.si/

Of course, both festivals (NMN and Comic-Con) can’t be directly compared, since they are two distinct types of events, although they both feed the hungry fantasy souls.

So, what is NMN? You can find the answer the easiest way, on, yes, you guessed, the website of the original event (https://www.comic-con.org/), where it says:

“Comic-Con is the premier event for all things comics and related popular art, including movies, television, gaming, interactive multimedia, and so much more! Enjoy cosplay galore and take part in unique programming, exclusive previews, and presentations, not to mention the expansive and diverse Exhibit Hall featuring merchandise and displays representing all fandoms.”

NMN has everything from the above definition. The festival sees an excellent number of visitors, they ran out of tickets even before the official opening at 9 AM.

The happenings in the two floors of Gospodarsko razstavišče

This year’s NMN was a two-day event: 24th and 25th of May. the 25th was especially grand, as the entire fantasy loving world is celebrating. No, not Tito’s birthday, the famous Towel Day.

Programme-wise, it included the following:

Veliki oder (Grand Stand)
Predavalnica (Lecture Hall)
Geeki okrogle mize (Geek Round Tables) – various debates and boutique presentations that don’t see many visitors. Here, CLD’s Sunday programme took place.
Alkimistov laboratorij (Alchemist’s Laboratory) – a sort of laboratory for playing unreleased board games
Arena malih superjunakov (Little Superheroes’ Corner) – for children
Lov za zakladom (Treasure Hunt) – you know, what you can expect...
Gaming terminal – no need to explain
Park enigma – various competitions, themed around fantasy
Društvo ljubiteljev sestavljank (Puzzle Enthusiasts Society) – building/doing this or that

Most of these were active almost the entire time. The programme was of course following what is expected from an incarnation of Comic-Con. Saturday, there was also a party (extra entry ticket), that was in the spirit of the festival.

CLD’s active harvest on the NMN fantasy field

The Celje’s Literary Society team was an active participant in the festival, it had a stand in the cellar level, beside a variety of different associations, more or less tied to fantasy. Our stand was next to the KUD Polica Dubova publishing house, which had its own book offerings.

We emphasised the promotion of Supernova, which is still the only journal for ‘serious’ fantasy (if we said ‘adult’ you might think of something raunchy) and Fanfest, which is still, yes, you guessed it again, the only fantasy literature festival in Slovenia. We also exhibited our literary jewels and, most importantly, the official sponsor of our stand was Bojan’s stuffed gremlin slave Gizmo, who diverted his magical power to the Celje v vesolju (Celje in Space) anthology and the fresh Supernova.

This year, for the first time, we had promotional leaflets in English, as part of preparations for Eurocon.

Dominik Lenarčič prepared a presentation of fantasy sweets, done in collaboration with Bojan Ekselenski.

The programme presentation:

Supernova,
Fanfest,
Preparations for Eurocon in Finland,
Besan 5 and 6.
They invited those gathered to write and send contributions.

Taking part in NMN is important, as it shows the activities of CLD in terms of fantasy and because it offers a live connection to the enormous enthusiast community.

Guests of the festival

Guests of honour were Brian Muir (sculptor, who, among other things, designed Darth Vader’s helmet) and four cosplayers – ND Cosplay (Croatia), Bendershield Cosplay (Serbia – he lives in Croatia with his wife, the aforementioned ND Cosplay. We know that cosplayers are one big family.), Lovro the Supernaut (Croatia) and Arii Cosplay (Slovenia).

Passenger list from the other side of the country

NMN expedition: Andrej, Dominik in Bojan.

The final conclusion – NMN was an excellently organised festival with everything that belongs there and is in no way falling behind similar festivals with more tradition.

A special thanks to the teddy bear at the reception table.

Photo by: Bojan Ekselenski, Dominik Lenarčič, Tatjana Jamnik

21st of May 2025 (The Celje House of Culture): Supernova – a Slovene and an English Edition

The presentation of the 18th issue of Supernova was held on the 21st of May in the Celje House of Culture, the home of Celje’s Literary Society.

This spring’s presentation is special in the sense that it was also a presentation of the English edition of the magazine. This year, members of Celje’s Literary Society will be going to Finland to Eurocon, the all-European science fiction and fantasy festival, organized by the European Science Fiction Society (ESFS), with the organizer of the local festival. The language of communication is English and for the promotion of Slovene fantasy literature and Fanfest, we have prepared an English edition. Close to 1.000 people from all around Europe will gather in Mariehamn and they will get the chance to read the works of Slovene authors. A number of foreign authors, who fairly regularly publish in Supernova and have answered the call, are also included in the issue. Among the local and foreign authors, some are established names.

With English translations, the following authors have responded: Andrej Ivanuša, Aljoša Toplak, Barbara Ribič Jelen, Bojan Ekselenski, Domen Mohorič, Dominik Lenarčič, Ivan Šokić, Majda Arhnauer Subašič, Matjaž Marinček, Miha Mazzini and Primož Jenko.

The Slovene spring issue is rich in content, since it includes essays, local and translated prose, reports, interviews and information on new books. It also includes literary calls for the Society’s journal Vsesledje, as well as Supernova and Fanfest.

The magazine has acquired two new authors: Eric Johansson from Croatia and George Dimitriu from Romania.

The presentation was led by editor Bojan Ekselenski. Andrej Ivanuša read the story Hazelnut Chocolate (George Dimitriu) and poems by Marko Vujović from Montenegro.

Bojan Ekselenski also read the Supernova Epigram by Matej Krajnc.

The Slovene participation in the aforementioned Eurocon, which will be taking place between the 26th and the 29th of June, was also mentioned. The Society will have a stand with Supernovas and promotional leaflets (all in English). The Eurocon programme will present Celje’s Literary Society, the Fanfest festival, the Supernova magazine and of course also the Vsesledje magazine.

The fantasy sweet feasting was excellently supplemented by the Music School Celje. Participating were Maks Zimšek, accordion (mentor: Dejan Kušer) and Patrik Klinc, clarinet with accompaniment by Kim Pavlič (mentor: Nataša Aškerc).

Link to the Slovene edition ...

Photo by: Bojan Ekselenski, Klementina Sambolič, Andrej Ivanuša and Andrej Krajnc

10th May 2025 (Zagreb, Croatia): The Celje Literary Society was a guest at the 2025 Sferakon.

The standard team members Andrej Ivanuša, Bojan Ekselenski and Dominik Lenarčič have taken part in the largest regional convention, which has existed for a full 47 years. The Society had a stand with promo materials (books, Supernova magazine, fliers).

Sferakon on the Web (ENG version)

4th – 6th April 2025 (Pazin, Croatia): The Celje Literary Society was a guest at the 2025 Istrakon.

The team, consisting of Andrej Ivanuša, Bojan Ekselenski and Dominik Lenarčič took part in the writers’ segment of Istrakon. They took part in the following:

SciFi&F in the ExYU space,
The reveal of the Istrakon story collection »Istrakonski vremeplov«,
A presentation on Fanfest, Supernova and other Celje Literary Society goodies.

More about the Slovene participation (in Slovene).

Istrakon on the web.

16th November 2024 (Pazin, Croatia): The Celje's Literary Society was a guest at the 2024 festival of fantasy literature in Pazin.

The festival took place on the 16th and was dedicated to the driving force of the festival, the tragically deceased Davor Šišović – Šiška. A short story collection titled “Priče o Davorju Šišoviću” was published. More than 50 stories were sent, of which 18 were chosen, among them A Souvenir from Pazin (Spominek iz Pazina; Suvenir iz Pazina) by Bojan Ekselenski.

The presentation of the story collection Priče o Davorju Šišoviću was incredibly emotional, since it was a kind of literary farewell to an amazing man who contributed a lot to the development of fantasy literature. Even the Fanfest in Celje is inspired by the Pazin festival, which was established over 20 years ago by Davor.

Fanfest 8 has concluded.

18th – 20th October 2024 (Celje, Slovenia): Fanfest 8, the Slovene festival of fantasy literature.

Programme chart

Friday, 18th October
Gathering of foreign guests and a social introduction to the festival

Saturday, 19th October

Antika Bookstore (16H)
- Supernova 16 and 17
- Proza za vse generacije (Bojan Ekselenski)
- Slovene fantasy goodies
- Animus (Jan Bilodjerič)
- Ilonka (Domen Mezeg)
- Skrivnost srži (Jakob Konda)
- New guy at the festival – Croatian writer Krunoslav Mikulan
- Croatian scene – conventions, festivals and major calls for literature - Mirko Karas (Sfera Society from Zagreb)
- Serbian scene – happenings, books – Tihomir Jovanović Tika
House of Culture (at 19h)
- The reveal of the Slovene translation of The White Room by Živković (moderator Matej Krajnc, speakers were Zoran Živković (author) and Bojan Ekselenski (translator))
- Presentation of the results of the last call for stories (moderator Dominik Lenarčič)
- Presentation of the literary call for Fanfest 9: Green Celje (Bojan Ekselenski)

Sunday, 20th October

Celje House of Culture (10:30)
- Panel workshop: The logic of literary worlds (Zoran Živković, Bojan Ekselenski)

More about the festival (in Slovene).