Struga Poetry Evenings Draw 25 Poets From 20 Nations

06/09/2005

American poet W.S. Merwin was the recipient of this year's Golden Wreath award, given at the Struga Poetry Evenings on the banks of Lake Ohrid.

By Zoran Nikolovski for Southeast European Times in Skopje -- 06/09/05

The Struga Poetry Evenings, dating back to 1962, are considered the world's longest-running poetry festival. [SVP]

The world's longest-running poetry festival was held on the banks of Macedonia's Lake Ohrid late last month. Twenty-five poets from 20 different countries attended the 44th annual Struga Poetry Evenings (SPE), which took place from 25 August to 28 August.

The winner of this year's SPE Golden Wreath award was the American poet W.S. Merwin. It was his third time at the festival.

"This is a great honour for me and I am moved," said Merwin. "I understand the award is given by people who view poetry as having the central place in their lives, as it does in mine."

"Together with this Golden Wreath, we are handing to you our best wishes for good health and many more poems that will succeed in their mission to turn this turbulent world into a better and more humane place rather than a place of war-generated suffering and division," said SPE Managing Board president Zoran Ancevski.

Andrea Cote of Colombia won the Struga Bridges Award, given to the best young poet. The winner of the UNESCO-sponsored prize receives a sculpture representing bridges and a pigeon, created by Macedonian artist Branko Jaksic.

"Poetry has proven to contribute to the world's health, the health of its spirit. I am grateful to you for bringing me to Struga where the lake is unbelievably translucent, just as poetry should be," Cote said.

Delegates of the European Poetry Academy, who met during the festival, said in a joint statement that the Struga Poetry Evenings, initiated in 1962, are an impressive example of the broad range of cross-cultural activities Macedonia sponsors today.

In addition to poetry readings, the SPE also publishes a book series aimed at introducing the work of international authors to Macedonia readers, as well as providing English translations of modern Macedonian poets for foreign readers. This year, the poetry of Tanikawa Suntaru (Japan), Breyten Breytenbach (South Africa), Rita Dove (United States), Lionel Ray (France), Les Murray (Australia), Tarek Eltayeb (Sudan) and Hedi Bouraoui (Canada) will be published within the annual edition.