The festival began in 1961 in Struga, then People's Republic of Macedonia with Macedonian poets only, while in 1963 it expanded its list of participants with poets from all around the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.[1][2] The Miladinov Brothers Award was established for the best poetry book published between two consecutive festivals, which became the most important national poetry award.[3] By 1966 the event turned into an international cultural festival. The Golden Wreath international award was established in the same year and its first recipient was Robert Rozhdestvensky. In 2003, in close cooperation with UNESCO, the Festival established another international award called The Bridges of Struga, for a best debut poetry book by a young author. During its long successful existence, the festival has hosted about 4,000 poets, translators, essayists and literary critics from about 95 countries of the world.
A point of interest is that the festival often awarded foreign poets who were considered dissidents in their countries, including for example the Russian exiled poet Joseph Brodsky, the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, the American beatnikAllen Ginsberg, the Soviet bardBulat Okudzhava and many others.
In memory of the laureates, the Park of Poetry featuring memorial boards dedicated to each of them was established near the Struga Cultural Center.
Organization
The festival has offices in Struga and in Skopje (an office director, an executive and a technical secretary) and is organized by a Festival Board, which consists of knowledgeable professionals in the field of poetry (poets, literary critics, translators, and professors in comparative literature and culture).[citation needed]
Events
The festival consists of several events held at different locations:[citation needed]
Opening ceremony on the plateau in front of the Cultural Centre in Struga including a traditional reading of Taga za Jug (Macedonian language: Т’га за југ, A Longing for The South),[4] the famous nostalgic lyrical poem written by the Struga-born poet Konstantin Miladinov during his life in Imperial Russia.
Meridijani (Меридијани, Meridians) a poetry reading by various international poets in the Cultural Centre following the opening ceremony.
Portret na Laureatot (Портрет на Лауреатот, Portrait of the Lauerate) an event devoted to the year's main award recipient traditionally held in the church of St. Sofia in the nearby city of Ohrid usually accompanied by classical music, opera or domestic or foreign ethnic music performance.
Noći bez interpukcija (Ноќи без интерпукција, Nights without Punctuation) multimedia artistic events featuring experimental forms of poetic presentations, which can also include other arts like music and video art.
Mostovi (Мостови, Bridges) the closing ceremony held at the Bridge of Poetry on the river Drim in Struga including poetry readings and the awarding ceremony.
Other events include workshops, round-table discussions on various social topics and their influence on poetry, etc.
Another event in the so-called Caravan of Poetry, which consists of poetry performances around the country. Usually, after the end of the Festival, the Festival also organizes poetry readings in the national capital, Skopje.
Awards
Zlaten Venec na Poezijata (Златен Венец на Поезијата, Golden Wreath of Poetry), the main international award given to a world-renowned living poet for life achievement in the field of poetry. The recipient's name is publicized usually several months in advance.
Brakja Miladinovci (Браќа Миладиновци, Miladinov Brothers Award), the main national poetry award, for a best book published between two editions of the festival.[3]
The Bridges of Struga, for a best debuting author.
Iselenička gramota, for poets from the Macedonian diaspora.
The Struga Poetry Evenings organization is also involved in book publishing.
Poetry anthologies
1971 Contemporary Italian Poetry
1972 Contemporary Soviet Poetry
1972 Anthology of Romanian Poetry
1973 Contemporary Polish Poetry
1974 Contemporary Chilean Poetry
1976 Finnish Poetry
1977 Contemporary Algerian Poetry
1978 Contemporary Palestinian Poetry
1978 German Poetry of the 20th Century
1979 Modern American Poetry
1980 New Hungarian Poetry;
1980 Contemporary Indian Poetry
1981 Contemporary Greek Poetry
1982 Austrian Poetry of the 20th Century
1983 Contemporary Venezuelan Poetry;
1983 Contemporary Poetry of Czechoslovakia
1984 Contemporary Egyptian Poetry
1985 New Chinese Poetry
1987 Contemporary Australian Poetry
1988 Contemporary Swedish Poetry
1989 Contemporary Belgian Poetry
1990 Contemporary British Poetry
1991 Contemporary Swiss Poetry
1992 Contemporary Poetry of Luxembourg
1993 Contemporary Italian Poetry
1994 Contemporary German Poetry
1995 Contemporary Danish Poetry
1996 Contemporary Albanian Poetry
1997 Contemporary Korean Poetry
1998 Spanish Poetry of the 20th Century
1999 Contemporary Bulgarian Poetry
2000 Contemporary Russian Poetry
2001 Contemporary Portuguese Poetry
2002 Contemporary Tunisian Poetry
2003 Contemporary Indian Poetry written in English
2004 Contemporary Dutch Poetry
2005 Contemporary Israeli Poetry
2006 Contemporary Caribbean Poetry
2007 Contemporary Turkish Poetry
2008 Contemporary Ukrainian Poetry
2009 Contemporary Norwegian Poetry
2010 Contemporary Azerbaijan Poetry
2011 Poetry from Slavic countries
2012 Contemporary Mongolian Poetry
2013 Contemporary Slovenian Poetry
References
^History, Struga Poetry Evenings, People's Republic of Macedonia.
^Ljubica Jančeva; Aleksandar Litovski (2017). "Makedonija i Makedonci u Jugoslaviji: uspostavljanje sopstvenog identiteta" [Macedonia and Macedonians in Yugoslavia: Establishing Their Own Identity]. In Latinka Perović; Drago Roksandić; Mitja Velikonja; Wolfgang Hoepken; Florian Bieber (eds.). Jugoslavija u istorijskoj perspektivi [Yugoslavia in Historical Perspective]. Helsinki Federation for Human Rights Serbia. pp. 149–171. ISBN978-86-7208-207-4.
North Macedonia
