SPREMNA BESEDA Jan ja Ž itnik Letošnjo številko Dveh domovin posvečam o stoti obletnici rojstva uglednega slovenskoameriškega pisatelja Louisa Adamiča (1898-1951). Obletnica je bila v Sloveniji deležna velike pozornosti v znanstvenih, kulturnih in prosvetnih krogih kot tudi v medijih. Največ kulturnih in šolskih prireditev je bilo v marcu, in sicer v Adamičevi rojstni občini Grosuplje in v Ljubljani, o čemer v tej številki revije posebej poročamo. Osrednja znanstvena prireditev ob tej priložnosti pa je bila m ednarodna konferenca Ob sto ti obletnici rojstva Louisa Adam iča - Intelektualci v diaspori, ki jo je pod vodstvom dr. Irene Gantar Godina organiziral Inštitut za slovensko izseljenstvo ZRC SAZU v dneh od 1.-5. septembra 1998 v Portorožu (gl. poročilo o simpoziju v rubriki Poročila in razmišljanja). Pisateljevi obletnici posvečamo v tej številki sklop šestih prispevkov, od katerih so bili štirje predstavljeni na omenjeni konferenci v Portorožu. V dogovoru z referenti in po sklepu Inštituta za slovensko izseljenstvo objavljamo te štiri prispevke v naši reviji, medtem ko bodo drugi referati objavljeni v posebnem zborniku referatov simpozija. V posameznih razdelkih so najprej objavljeni slovenski prispevki, sledijo jim angleški. V prvem razdelku so članki razvrščeni tako, da v vsebinskem smislu tvorijo zaokroženo celoto. Prvi štirje prispevki o Adamiču so nastali predvsem na osnovi pisateljeve korespondence, v prvih treh teče beseda o različnih temah, povezanih z Adamičevimi stiki in dejavnostmi, v četrtem je v ospredju politična tema, v petem pisateljevo prevajalsko delo, zadnji prispevek pa je poskus orisa Adamičeve vsestranske osebnosti. V razdelku Druge razprave in članki objavljamo šest prispevkov, ki obravnavajo predvojno in današnje slovensko izseljenstvo v Franciji, Kanadi in Argentini ter potencialno izseljevanje slovenskih znanstvenikov v današnjem Dve domovini / Two Homelands - P - 1998, 7-8 trenutku, dva prispevka pa obravnavata izseljence drugih narodnosti - prvi poljskonemškega pesnika, pripadnika tretje generacije poljskih emigrantov, drugi pa litvanske priseljence v Argentini. Razdelkov Viri in gradivo ter Portreti letos ni. Prispevek o spomenici Jugoslovanske izseljeniške katoliške akcije sicer temelji na objavi vira, vendar g a je avtor zgledno komentiral in razvil v kakovostno razpravo, ki smo jo brez pomislekov uvrstili v drugi razdelek. Namesto Portretov pa letos objavljamo prvi razdelek, v katerem tvorijo prispevki kompleksen mozaični portret Louisa Adamiča. Prvim trem razdelkom sledijo običajne rubrike naše revije -P oroč ila in razmišljanja, Knjižne ocene in Avtorski izvlečki. Vsebinska zasnova in uredniški program revije ostajata za prihodnjo številko enaka kot doslej. Dosedanje in bodoče sodelavce revije vabim, da pošljejo svoje prispevke za 10. številko Dveh domovin v recenzijo na naslov uredništva do 30. junija 1999. FOREWORD Jan ja Ž itnik This year’s edition of Two Homelands is devoted to the hundredth anni­ versary of the birth o f the well-known Slovene-American writer Louis Adamic (1898-1951). The centenary attracted considerable attention in Slovenia, not only in academic, cultural and educational circles but also in the media. Most o f the related cultural and educational events took place in March, in the municipality o f Grosuplje, where Adamic was born, and in Ljubljana. A special report on these can be found in this issue. The main academic event connected to the cen­ tenary was the international conference 100"' Birth Anniversary o f Louis Adamic — Intellectuals in Diaspora organised by Dr Irena Gantar Godina o f the ZRC SAZU Institute for Slovenenian Emigration Studies and held on 1-5 September 1998 in Portorož (See the report on the conference in the Reports and Reflections section). Six articles in this issue are devoted to the writer’s centenary. Four o f these were presented as papers at the conference mentioned above (in Portorož), and the Institute for Emigration Studies, by agreement with the authors, has de­ cided to publish them here. The other papers presented at Portorož will be pub­ lished in a special collection o f conference reports. Each section contains articles in Slovene followed by articles in English. The articles in the first section are arranged so as to create a rounded whole in terms o f content. The first four articles on Adamic arise for the most part from the w riter’s correspondence; the first three touch on various themes relating to Adamic’s contacts and activities, while the central theme o f the fourth article is politics. The fifth article deals with the writer’s translation work, and the sixth and final article attempts to give an outline o f his many-sided personality. Dve domovini / Two Homelands - 9 - 1998, 9-10 10 The Other Treatises and Articles section contains six articles dealing with pre-war and present-day emigration o f Slovenes to France, Canada and Argen­ tina and the potential emigration of Slovene scientists today. Two articles deal with emigrants o f other nationalities — the first with a Polish-German poet, a third generation Polish immigrant, and the second with Lithuanian immigrants in Argentina. The Documentation and Portraits sections do not appear this year. The article on the Memorandum of the Yugoslav Emigrants’ Catholic Campaign is based on the publication of a source but since the author has provided an excel­ lent commentary on it and developed it into a quality paper, we had no hesitation about including it in the second section. In place o f Portraits this year we have the first section in which the various articles create a complex mosaic portrait of Louis Adamic. The first three sections are followed by the regular columns Re­ ports and Reflections, Book Reviews and Authors 'Abstracts. The content design and editorial programme o f the magazine will be the same for the next issue. Current and future contributors are invited to submit articles for the 10th issue o f Two Homelands to the editorial office by 30 June 1999.