Struga Poetry Evenings Open Today - The World Poetry Elite Has Come to Struga

      (Dnevnik, 28.08.2003) - A Nobel Prize candidate, China-born poet and emigrant into the United States Bei Dao; Macedonian-born Australian poet Tom Peckins (the author of the bestseller “French Mathematician”), Nikolay Kincev, Christopher Meryll, Uve Korbel, Chatarine Pierre Poid, Paolo Ruphilli, Huracio Costa Hody, Mario Veshovic, Eric Merfezs, Milan Rifter, Ellen Dorion, Pavlo Movcan, Anastasis Vickitis, and Dritero Agoli are the prominent poets and authors who have arrived in Struga for the event.
      Today’s programme is starting with the “Meridians” at the Poetry Home at 9.00 p.m. where around 10 poets will read excerpts from their work in their native languages. A symposium on the topic “East/West: The Mediterranean as Poetic Palimpsest” started yesterday. Today at 10.00 a.m. the laureate of the Struga Poetry Evening, Thomas Transtromer will plant a tree in the Park of Poetry followed by his poetry reading. This year’s award for the best home book of poetry published between two festivals has been given to Eftim Kletnikov for his “Living Rock,” a book of poetry published by Metanoja.
      The poets, guests of the festival will meet the winner tomorrow to discuss their creative experience, and in the afternoon, Macedonian poetry production, anthologies of poetry published in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Egypt, Canada and Ukraine, as well as works from the edition “Pleiads” and a selection of modern English-language Indian poetry, “Grand-Grandsons of Midnight” will be promoted. A poetry-music evening is organized at midnight.
      The creative portrait of the winner of Golden Wreath will be presented at St. Sofia Church in Ohrid. A traditional poetry reading, “Matinee” will be organized at Kalista and the “Night without Punctuation“will also not be avoided with participation of poets of younger generations. “Mostovi,” (Bridges), a poetry reading by the participants in the Evenings of their own works at the Drim Bridge and Golden Wreath handing ceremony to the winner are closing the Struga Poetry Evenings on Sunday.