Struga Poetry Evenings (SPE) ( mk, Струшки вечери на поезијата, СВП; tr. ''Struški večeri na poezijata'', ''SVP'') is an international

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

festival held annually in Struga,

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

. During the several decades of its existence, the Festival has awarded its most prestigious award, the Golden Wreath, to some of the most notable international poets, including:

Mahmoud Darwish Mahmoud Darwish ( ar, محمود درويش, Maḥmūd Darwīsh, 13 March 1941 – 9 August 2008) was a Palestinian poet and author who was regarded as the Palestinian national poet. He won numerous awards for his works. Darwish used Palestine ...

Sachchidananda Hirananda Vatsyayan Agyey Sachchidananda Hirananda Vatsyayan (7 March 1911 – 4 April 1987), popularly known by his pen name Agyeya (also transliterated Ajneya, meaning 'the unknowable'), was an Indian writer, poet, novelist, literary critic, journalist, translator a ...

W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...

, Joseph Brodsky,

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...

Bulat Okudzhava Bulat Shalvovich Okudzhava (russian: link=no, Булат Шалвович Окуджава; ka, ბულატ ოკუჯავა; hy, Բուլատ Օկուջավա; May 9, 1924 – June 12, 1997) was a Soviet and Russian poet, writer, musici ...

, Pablo Neruda,

Eugenio Montale Eugenio Montale (; 12 October 1896 – 12 September 1981) was an Italian poet, prose writer, editor and translator, and recipient of the 1975 Nobel Prize in Literature. Life and works Early years Montale was born in Genoa. His family were che ...

Léopold Sédar Senghor Léopold Sédar Senghor (; ; 9 October 1906 – 20 December 2001) was a Senegalese poet, politician and cultural theorist who was the first president of Senegal (1960–80). Ideologically an African socialist, he was the major theoretician o ...

, Artur Lundkvist,

Hans Magnus Enzensberger Hans Magnus Enzensberger (11 November 1929 – 24 November 2022) was a German author, poet, translator, and editor. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Andreas Thalmayr, Elisabeth Ambras, Linda Quilt and Giorgio Pellizzi. Enzensberger was regarde ...

, Nichita Stănescu,

Ted Hughes Edward James "Ted" Hughes (17 August 1930 – 28 October 1998) was an English poet, translator, and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation and one of the twentieth century's greatest wri ...

, Ko Un,

Adunis Ali Ahmad Said Esber (, North Levantine: ; born 1 January 1930), also known by the pen name Adonis or Adunis ( ar, أدونيس ), is a Syrian poet, essayist and translator. He led a modernist revolution in the second half of the 20th century, ...

, Makoto Ooka,

Miroslav Krleža Miroslav Krleža (; 7 July 1893 – 29 December 1981) was a Yugoslav and Croatian writer who is widely considered to be the greatest Croatian writer of the 20th century. He wrote notable works in all the literary genres, including poetry (''Ba ...

Yehuda Amichai Yehuda Amichai ( he, יהודה עמיחי; born Ludwig Pfeuffer 3 May 1924 – 22 September 2000) was an Israeli poet and author, one of the first to write in colloquial Hebrew in modern times. Amichai was awarded the 1957 Shlonsky Prize, the ...

Seamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (; 13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature.

, Tomas Gösta Tranströmer, Bei Dao,

Amir Or Amir Or (אמיר אור) (born 1956), is an Israeli poet, novelist, and essayist whose works have been published in 45 languages. Levin, Lynn, "Israeli Poet Amir Or: A Conversation About Language, Myth, and the Soul" at the "Poetry Life and Times" ...

and domestic authors such as

Blaže Koneski Blaže Koneski ( mk, Блаже Конески; 19 December 1921 – 7 December 1993) was a Macedonian poet, writer, literary translator, and linguistic scholar. His major contribution was to the codification of standard Macedonian. He is the key ...

and

Mateja Matevski Mateja Matevski (13 March 1929 – 6 June 2018) was a Macedonian poet, literary and theater critic, essayist, and translator. Career Matevski was born on 13 March 1929 in Istanbul, Turkey to an Albanian family of the Eastern Orthodox rite. His ...

History

The festival began in 1961 in Struga, then

People's Republic of Macedonia The Socialist Republic of Macedonia ( mk, Социјалистичка Република Македонија, Socijalistička Republika Makedonija), or SR Macedonia, commonly referred to as Socialist Macedonia or Yugoslav Macedonia, was ...

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 The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

. The Miladinov Brothers Award was established for the best poetry book published between two consecutive festivals. By 1966 the event turned into an international

cultural festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival con ...

. The Golden Wreath international award was established in the same year and its first recipient was

Robert Rozhdestvensky Robert Ivanovich Rozhdestvensky (russian: Ро́берт Ива́нович Рожде́ственский; 20 June 1932 – 19 August 1994) was a Soviet-Russian poet and Songwriter who broke with socialist realism in the 1950s–1960s during ...

. In 2003, in close cooperation with

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

, 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. The festival has awarded some of the world's most eminent literary figures, including several

Nobel Prize for Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...

winners such as Joseph Brodsky,

, Pablo Neruda and

Seamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (; 13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature.

, the first African member of the

French Academy French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...

who was also a President of Senegal, the official royal

Poet Laureate A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch ...

who is regarded by many as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century and many others. A point of interest is that the festival often awarded foreign poets who were considered

dissident A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established political or religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and in the political sense since the 20th ...

s in their countries, including for example the Russian exiled poet Joseph Brodsky, the

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

an poet Pablo Neruda, the American beatnik

, the Soviet bard

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 Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and List of cities in North Macedonia by population, largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Sk ...

(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 Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across linguistic, national, geographic, and disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role similar to that of the study ...

and culture).

Events

The festival consists of several events held at different locations: * Opening ceremony on the plateau in front of the Cultural Centre in Struga including a traditional reading of '' Taga za Jug'' (

Macedonian language Macedonian (; , , ) is an Eastern South Slavic language. It is part of the Indo-European language family, and is one of the Slavic languages, which are part of a larger Balto-Slavic branch. Spoken as a first language by around two million ...

: Т’га за југ, ''A Longing for The South''), 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 Ohrid ( mk, Охрид ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the List of cities in North Macedonia, eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording ...

usually accompanied by classical music,

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

or domestic or foreign

ethnic music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

performance. *''Noći bez interpukcija'' (''Ноќи без интерпукција'', ''Nights without Punctuation'')

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradit ...

artistic events featuring experimental forms of poetic presentations, which can also include other arts like music and

video art Video art is an art form which relies on using video technology as a visual and audio medium. Video art emerged during the late 1960s as new consumer video technology such as video tape recorders became available outside corporate broadcasting ...

. * Daily poetry picnic at Sveti Naum springs near the

Ohrid Lake Lake Ohrid ( mk, Охридско Езеро , al, Liqeni i Ohrit , also referred as ''Liqeni i Pogradecit'';) is a lake which straddles the mountainous border between the southwestern part of North Macedonia and eastern Albania. It is one of E ...

including

Ethnic Macedonian music The Macedonian music refers to all forms of music associated with ethnic Macedonians. It share similarities with the music of neighbouring Balkan countries, yet it remains overall distinctive in its rhythm and sound. Folk music The ethnic Macedo ...

and dances. *''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 reading in the national capital,

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'') for a best book published between two festivals. *The Bridges of Struga, for a best debuting author. *Iselenička gramota, for poets from the Macedonian diaspora.

Golden Wreath laureates

Bridges of Struga laureates

* 2004 Angelo V. Suárez (Philippines) * 2005 Andrea Cote (Colombia) * 2006 Marianna Geide (Russia) * 2007 Manua Rime (Belgium) * 2008 Antonia Novakovic (Croatia) * 2009 Ousmane Sarrouss (Senegal) * 2010 Siim Kera (Estonia) * 2011 Hiroshi Taniuchi (Japan) * 2012 François-Xavier Maigre (France) * 2013 Nikolina Andova Shopova (North Macedonia) * 2014 Harry Man (United Kingdom) * 2015 Paula Bozalongo (Spain) * 2016 Runa Svetlikova (Belgium) * 2017 Goran Čolakhodžić (Croatia) * 2018 Pauli Tapio (Finland) * 2019 Monika Herceg (Croatia) * 2020 Martina Strakova (Slovenia) * 2021 Vladan Kreckovic (Serbia) * 2022 Gerardo Masuccio (Italy)

Publications

The ''Struga Poetry Evenings'' organization is also involved in book publishing.

Poetry anthologies

References

External links

*
World poetry comes to Struga
—

Southeast European Times Southeast European Times was a United States European Command-sponsored news website dedicated to coverage of Southeast Europe that ended publication in March 2015. The countries covered included Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Gree ...

UNESCO DG, Irina Bokova celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Struga Poetry Evenings

—

official portal
Celebration of World Poetry Day
— UNESCO official portal
Struga Poetry Evenings Festival
— UNESCO official website
''Exploring Macedonia'' National Tourism Portal

Macedonia: Decades-Old International Poetry Festival in Focus
- Global Voices {{Authority control Recurring events established in 1962 1962 establishments in Yugoslavia Annual events in North Macedonia Festivals in Yugoslavia