Since 2019, the Zlatirepec Award has been highlighting the finest achievements in comic creativity. This year’s jury was comprised of comic artist and animator Gašper Rus, comic and literary critic Eva Ule, and translator Julija Potrč Šavli. The first two jury members were voted in and selected by the members of the Packa Association of Slovenian Comics and Related Sequential Arts, while the third was appointed by the Slovenian Association of Literary Translators (SLTA). We have established a partnership with the SLTA based on presenting the international Sophie Castille Award for Comic Translation—which will be awarded at the festival for the third time—in order to further enhance the legitimacy of the award.

This year, 105 comic titles published in the last twelve months (from 1 July 2025 to 1 July 2026) competed for the Zlatirepec Award: 22 Slovenian comics for children and young adults, 59 translated comics for children and young adults, and 18 translated comics for adults. Since only 6 comic books were published in the Slovenian comics for adults category this year, the jury decided to nominate two instead of three titles. This year will also mark the inaugural presentation of the Award for Special Achievements in Comics.

The awards will be presented at the Tinta Ljubljana Comics Festival on Saturday, 10 October, at 20:30 in Kino Šiška’s Katedrala Hall. The ceremony will feature a performance by French drawing virtuoso Edmond Baudoin, who will be creating live art to the musical accompaniment of improviser and multi-instrumentalist Samo Kutin.

The awards are presented by the Packa Association of Slovenian Comics and Related Sequential Arts, Stripolis Institute, and the Sophie Castille Award Foundation. The award is part of a literary events project co-funded by the Slovenian Book Agency.

Mojmir in Krištof: Primer izginule kuharice (Mojmir and Krištof: The Case of the Missing Cookbook) – Matej de Cecco, Janez Grm (Stripolis, 2026)

Meet the cat-and-dog detective duo in this fun comic filled with surprises that respects the rules of the crime fiction genre while keeping its target readership in mind at all times.

Grozna šola 1: Strašni razred (Terrible School 1: The Terrifying Class) – Miha Ha, Maša Ogrizek (Mladinska knjiga, 2026)

Even though vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and other creatures of the night attend this school, young readers will recognize feelings and situations similar to those they experience in their own classrooms, enjoying a good laugh along the way.

Riba na suhem (Fish Out of Water) – Ivan Mitrevski, Maša Ogrizek (KUD Sodobnost, 2025)

A colourful comic with simple shapes aimed at the youngest readers, engaging their exploratory spirit and unobtrusively teaching that every individual is more than just what their job or social status defines them to be.

Divja jaga (Wild Hunt) – Martin Ramoveš, Janez Ramoveš (Forum, 2025)

Divja jaga is the third comic in a cycle where the authors draw from folklore and the history of the Slovenian countryside to create dark, chilling visions of a world where violence is not a distant memory, but a persistent and almost primal force.

Pehta – Tamara Likon, Jure Ule (Forum, 2025)

Through a subtle reinterpretation of a famous folklore figure, evocative black-and-white drawing, and thoughtfully intertwined folk motifs, Pehta creates a captivating narrative of a woman who evolves from the archetype of a mysterious witch back into a misunderstood human figure with her own voice and pain.

Akisi v Parizu (1. knjiga) (Akissi de Paris (Tome 1)) – Marguerite Abouet & Mathieu Sapin (VigeVageKnjige, 2025; translated by Katja Šaponjić)

A highly promising start to a new chapter in the life of a non-conformist, inspiring, and thoroughly charming heroine whom our young readers have already met and fallen in love with.

Veliki hudobni lisjak (The Big Bad Fox)– Benjamin Renner (Stripolis, 2025; translated by Izar Lunaček)

A heartwarming, immensely funny, and brilliantly illustrated story about a fox who wants to be like the big bad wolf, but ends up becoming the best mum in the world.

Kinderland – Mawil (VigeVageKnjige, 2025; translated by Amalija Maček)

A witty, touching, and nostalgic coming-of-age story in which the author relives his early teenage years in East Germany, unobtrusively demonstrating that friendship and hanging out with peers can be more precious than tectonic historical shifts.

Jimmy Corrigan, najbrihtnejši poba na svetu (Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth)  – Chris Ware (VigeVageKnjige, 2025; translated by Vesna Velkovrh Bukilica)

A multi-layered story of loneliness, family ties, and the inability to form genuine connections, intertwining present, memory, imagination, and history through the stories of several generations of the same family. Its characters are trapped in their own fears, memories, and expectations, making their alienation both deeply personal and surprisingly universal.

Nebo v glavi (El cielo en la cabeza) – Altarriba & Garcia & Moral (VigeVageKnjige, 2025; translated by Sara Virk)

A poignant story of two boys from the Democratic Republic of the Congo that translates complex themes of migration, child labor, warfare, and the exploitation of natural resources into an epic narrative about the pursuit of a better life. It stands out with a lavish visual story in which vast landscapes, polyphonic scenes, and carefully considered transitions between panels merge into an evocative journey through dust, heat, anxiety, and rare moments of light.

Pospremi me do vogala (Walk Me to the Corner) – Anneli Furmark (VigeVageKnjige, 2025; translated by Mita Gustinčič Pahor)

Walk Me to the Corner is an extraordinarily delicate story of love, longing, desire, and new possibilities that can emerge even in the middle of a seemingly settled life. Its power lies in its restrained storytelling without moralizing, as well as an airy drawing style and thoughtful color palette that express complex emotional states through subtle gestures and fleeting glances.

Amalija Maček
Kinderland, Mawil (VigeVageKnjige, 2025)

While reading this lively, amusing book about the adventures of seventh-grader Mirko and his friends in East Berlin just before the fall of the Wall, there is never a dull moment. This is also credit to translator Amalija Maček, who managed to craft full-blooded dialogues through a measured use of colloquialisms and truncated words mirroring actual language use, delivering vibrant and convincing characters.

Katja Zakrajšek
Vrabčica (Pardalita), Joana Estrela (VigeVageKnjige, 2026)

In a subtle story of fascination, growing closer, and falling in love between teenagers Raquel and Vrabčica, various forms of verbal expression intertwine: dialogue, narrative prose, and prose poems. Translator Katja Zakrajšek navigated all of them masterfully. The courageous use of colloquialisms common in teenage speech stands out in particular, alongside a thoughtful selection of vocabulary that recreates humor and conveys the wide spectrum of emotions that distinguish this wonderful work.

Neža Božič
Boris, Beti in ljubi okostnjaki (Boris, Babette und lauter Skelette), Tanja Esch (Mladinska knjiga, 2026)

In a book about a boy named Boris doing his best to care for his talking pet Babette, translator Neža Božič brilliantly recreated the natural conversational language of children and their parents, which never feels forced. She also handled Babette’s endearing speech impediment with great skill, making it particularly memorable.

Vesna Velkovrh Bukilica
Jimmy Corrigan, najbrihtnejši poba na svetu (Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth), Chris Ware (VigeVageKnjige, 2025)

A monumental comic work has received a monumental translation in Slovenian. Across nearly four hundred pages, in addition to text in traditional speech bubbles, the translator impeccably rendered all signs, interjections, prose passages, and even instructions for assembling various objects—all with exceptional precision and a masterful shift between the different registers required by the original. A stunning translation achievement.

Suzana Koncut
Travestit (Travesti), Edmond Baudoin (LUD Literatura, 2025)

Travestit was adapted from the novel of the same name by Mircea Cărtărescu, a renowned contemporary Romanian author whose work has already been translated into Slovenian. Translator Suzana Koncut expertly blends longer, literary connecting text with the natural speech of comics, resulting in a hallucinatory coming-of-age narrative characterized by the finest literary language.

Srečko Fišer
Ime rože (The Name of the Rose), Milo Manara, Umberto Eco (Mladinska knjiga 2026)

The graphic novel adaptation of the famous novel was created by Italian master of comics Milo Manara, and translated into Slovenian by Srečko Fišer, who had also provided the translation of the novel over four decades ago. The translator masterfully places us in the Middle Ages through the use of archaic terms, Latin, and even a kind of Babelish spoken by one of the supporting characters, subtly fusing excerpts from the novel with comic dialogue. The result is a literary comic treat.