ISSUE XXXV August 2023
Poetry from Macedonia
edited by Ivan Antonovski
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Poetry is “an urge, indifferent to meaning,” as Blazhe Koneski, the first Macedonian poet to receive the Golden Wreath of the Struga Poetry Evenings Festival, said in one of his poems. However, in contemporary Macedonian poetry, that urge hides profound meaning, allowing the power of the Macedonian poetic word to be recognized even when translated into another language. Macedonian poets, decades ago and now, have insisted on the formal perfection of the poem and the justification of its content in their creative experiences – similar to the reflections of the Macedonian canonical poet Aco Shopov on poetry. I hope this selection from the works of poets with an active oeuvre, representing the aesthetical vertical of Macedonian poetry, portrays that profound meaning and perfection. Four decades ago, Vlada Uroshevikj, the 2023 Golden Wreath recipient, said: “The poet is on the verge of being declared a relic, a rare bird, which does not mean that tomorrow he will not be called upon to speak again – to point the way, to express meaning, to encourage hope. To be necessary to the world.” Upon reading the verses from this selection of Macedonian authors, the question seems to arise whether the day may have come when poets are called to speak their word and express meaning.
Ivan Antonovski, Editor, Issue XXXV, August 2023 |
