Fair director Magdalena Vodopija said at a news conference at the Italian Cultural Institute in Zagreb that the Italian programme marked a new chapter in the fair's history that had been considered for some time because Italian culture had been an integral part of Istria for centuries.
Storie Italiane will feature a retrospective of Pasolini's films to be screened in Pula's Kino Valli from 21 to 24 November, in cooperation with the Pula Film Festival.
Vodopija expressed hope the Italian programme would become a permanent part of the book fair, announcing that its topic for the next edition would be "Anni di piombo" (Years of Lead).
She thanked all partners for enabling the "Storie Italiane" programme - the Italian Cultural Institute, the Pula Italian Community and the Italian Union.
Italian Cultural Institute director Gian Luca Borghese said he was very pleased that through the project the institute was becoming part of one of the most important book fairs in Croatia, an innovative event and an important book market in Central Europe.
The 28th Book Fair(y) in Istria will be held in Pula from 25 November to 4 December, its main theme being "Return".
One of the greatest literary names to attend the fair is Hungarian author, screenwriter and Booker Prize winner László Krasznahorkai.