Dubrovnik is usually introduced through its walls, palaces and sea views, yet the city has another identity that can be just as compelling: its literary and cultural life. That quieter side came into focus again with Grad od riječi (“City of Words”), a literary and cultural festival organised by the Dubrovnik branch of Matica hrvatska. In 2025, the festival returned for its second edition and took place from 2 to 4 October in TUP in Gruž, as part of the celebration marking 70 years of the journal Dubrovnik.
More than a literary event
What makes Grad od riječi especially interesting is that it is not only a festival for writers or specialists. According to the official programme and local coverage, it brought together lectures, literary talks, workshops, exhibitions, book presentations and meetings with authors, while one of its accompanying programmes also included a day-long fair of books, artists and associations.
That gives the festival a wider cultural meaning. It suggests a Dubrovnik that still values conversation, books and ideas — not as something distant or academic, but as part of public life.
TUP as a fitting setting
The choice of TUP in Gruž also says something about the festival’s tone. Rather than placing culture only in the expected historic spaces, Grad od riječi used a location that feels more contemporary and communal. That made the event seem less ceremonial and more open, with a programme designed not only for literary audiences, but for a broader public too. This is partly an inference, but it is well supported by the publicly described mix of talks, workshops, fairs and community-focused programmes. (DuList)
A festival tied to the journal Dubrovnik
In 2025, the festival was closely linked to the 70th anniversary of the journal Dubrovnik, which gave the programme an added layer of cultural memory. Dulist and the official event pages both frame the festival as a literary and cultural celebration of that anniversary, while the opening programme included a presentation of the illustrated book Marin Držić u dvanaest priča by Slavica Stojan, with illustrator Joško Marušić also taking part.
That connection matters because it places the festival within a longer Dubrovnik tradition of publishing, writing and cultural continuity.
A reminder that Dubrovnik is also a city of books
Festivals like this are a useful reminder that Dubrovnik cannot be reduced to a visual experience alone. Its appeal is not only architectural. There is also a strong intellectual and literary layer to the city, one that becomes most visible when events such as Grad od riječi bring reading, conversation and cultural exchange into the foreground. The organisers themselves framed the 2025 edition through the idea that Dubrovnik once again becomes “a city that lives through words.”
That phrase captures something important. It suggests a city that does not only preserve culture, but continues to activate it.
Why this matters for visitors too
For visitors, this side of Dubrovnik is easy to miss if attention remains fixed only on monuments and views. Yet literary and cultural programmes like Grad od riječi show that the city still has a living contemporary scene — one connected to books, local institutions, public discussion and artistic exchange. That makes Dubrovnik feel richer, and perhaps more interesting, than the postcard version alone. This is an inference, but it follows naturally from the festival’s publicly described programme and purpose.
A different way of reading the city
What Grad od riječi ultimately offers is not only a festival, but a different way of reading Dubrovnik itself. It points towards a city where literature still has public space, where anniversaries of journals matter, and where culture can still gather people together across several days of conversation and creativity. Local reporting after the event described the festival as bringing together literature, art and community, which may be the clearest summary of all.
In a city so often seen first through stone and sunlight, that is worth noticing. Dubrovnik is also a city of words.
