Nuša Ilovar of Žalec

Proposer: Žalec Intermunicipal General Library, Andreja Hutinski

The life story of Nuša Ilovar provides a role model for many people (especially those with special needs) as to how they can overcome the hardest obstacles and achieve a higher quality of life. Since cerebral palsy has confined her to a wheelchair, she had to spend most of her childhood in hospitals and at the Centre for Training Disabled Children. Owing to her physical slowness and incomprehensible speech, she had no chance of continuing her education (she completed primary school with an adapted programme). Yet these and other obstacles (in spoken communication she needs a translator) did not put her off a love of life, which she displays at every step.

Nuša's perseverance and independence in learning are particularly evident in her writing, which helps her overcome any pessimism. She discovered the great joy of writing when she was spending most of the day on her own. At that time she took recourse in reading, and in this way recognised her own desire and need to write about her feelings. The fruit of her work includes a published novel and collection of poems, publication in the literary magazines Vpogled, Vsesledje, Apokalipsa, Mentor and Cool, publication in the web literary magazine Locutio and on the poetry portal Pesem.si (http://www.pesem.si/). Her activities have also gained attention in the wider environment, and in 2000 in the campaign conducted by the magazine Jana she was nominated for Slovenian woman of the year. For her rich creativity in the literary field she received a Savin prize in 2005.

Nuša Ilovar has been enhancing her literary abilities as a member of the Celje Literary Society, and she also attends literary workshops, camps and similar. Most importantly, her mind is never still; she is always pursuing new goals and her excited mood infects everything she encounters. She teaches the people around her that no one is self-sufficient, or as the proposer Andreja Hutinski put it, that interpersonal ties are an added value that must be created and nurtured.