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“Poetry is the eternal companion of man and shares his destiny” - Blaže Koneski

22/03/2021

On March 22nd, 2021, as part of World Poetry Day, the Republic of North Macedonia paid a multilingual tribute to the poet and linguist Blaže Koneski, whose centenary was inscribed on the calendar of anniversaries celebrated in association with UNESCO during the 2021-2022 biennium.

This is an acknowledgement not only of Koneski’s contribution to the cultural development of our country, but also of the role that the poetic word plays in today’s world,” said Irena Stefoska, Minister of Culture of North Macedonia, while President Pendarovski stressed that Koneski subtily explains the grammar of life and forges an armature on which national culture relies placing it in the poetic and intellectual heritage of the world.

Seven diplomatic representatives gathered at UNESCO Headquarters to read a selection of his poems in their respective languages, each adding "their own stone to the multilingual mosaic of Blaže Koneski's poetry that we would like to offer as a gift to the world on World Poetry Day 2021", said Jadranka Chaushevska Dimov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of North Macedonia in France and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO.

Koneski’s poems were read by Ferit Hoxha, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Delegate of Albania; Véronique Roger-Lacan, Ambassador, Permanent Delegate of France; Metka Ipavic, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Delegate of Slovenia; Ghazi Gherairi, Ambassador, Permanent Delegate of Tunisia; Leona Kleinova, Deputy Permanent Delegate of the Czech Republic; Danijela Cubrilo, Deputy Permanent Delegate of Serbia; and Mikael Schultz, Deputy Permanent Delegate of Sweden.

Gjoko Zdraveski, lecturer of the Macedonian language at INALCO, Paris, read Koneski's poems in Macedonian, while poet Tanya Karmzova Costigliola presented the literary portrait "Blaže Koneski: virtuoso of the poetic language" in French.

At the event, we also paid tribute to Carol Ann Duffy, award-winning Glasgow-born poet whose work earned her the honorary titles of Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (2015) and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom (2009-2019). She was awarded the 2021 Golden Wreath of the Struga Poetry Evenings, an international festival held annually in August since 1961 in the southern region of the Republic of North Macedonia.

“In August, another poetry prize, the "Bridges of Struga" prize, will be awarded at the Struga Festival to a young poet for his first book published the previous year”, announced ambassador Chaushevska Dimov. Awarded in partnership with UNESCO, this prize has played an important role in forging links between young poets from all continents, ranging from the Philippines to Senegal, Japan, Estonia, France, Russian Federation, Colombia and many others. This year, Serbia joins the long list of international friendships, with Vladan Krečković winning the prize for his book Paris, Texas, titled after German director Wim Wenders’ cult film.

The event ended on a musical note, with two masterpieces of traditional Macedonian music, orchestrated by Serbian musician Miroslav Tadić and performed by the Duo SoliPse, formed by Macedonian flutist Elena Stojčeska and French guitarist Romain Petiot.

Due to the conditions imposed by the Covid 19 pandemic, the event was held without an audience and was broadcast live on the internet. It is available at this link: https://youtu.be/i0CzJURAbs0

Source: National Commission for UNESCO of the Republic of North Macedonia