The jury committee consisting of: Jana Mihajlovska PhD, Zorica Nikolovska, PhD and Vladimir Jankovski decided that this year’s international award will go to Benjamin Langer, university professor and translator, for the translation of the timeless novel “Pirej” by Petre M. Andreevski. The idea came from the fact that this year we celebrate the 90th birthday of the author, and 44 years since the publishing of his most famous novel, which marvelous translation in German was published by the prestigious publishing house “Gugoltz” from Berlin. The novel sparked a great literary reaction amid the german readers. In one of the reviews for the novel, the author Mirko Švanic noted: “This novel is both a time machine and a living museum. Petre M. Andreevski takes the reader in the first half of the 20th century, telling a vast family epic. (…) Andreevski’s style is strongly rooted in the rural dialect of the village where he was born, with which the novel secured its place int the world literature. The translator Benjamin Langer succeeded in translating in German the idiosyncratic and austere beauty of this language so refined that it can already be considered a candidate for the Leipzig Literary Award.”
Benjamin Langer, born in 1976 in Erlangen, Germany, is a deep connoisseur of the Macedonian language and literature. He studied German studies and history of art in Bamberg and Budapest, and from 2005 until 2009 he was treaching at the Department of German language and literature in the Faculty of Philology “Blaže Koneski”. His work as a translator brought the Macedonian literature closer to the German readers, namely, the works of: Goce Smilevski, Branko Cvetkoski, Dejan Trajkoski, Rumena Bužarovska, Vlada Urošević, Petre M. Andreevski etc. In 2022 the German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier had Langer as a special invitee of the Delegation that accompanies the President for his travels in Macedonia and Albania. In his speech in the Macedonian Parliament, Steineier quoted the translation of “Pirej”. In cooperation with the German embassy in Skopje Benjamin Langer will be a professional participant in the Second fellowship program “Publishing Europe” (2ndnd Publishing Europe Fellowship) in Skopje.
The International award “Dragi” for the most notable translation from Macedonian in a foreign language takes into consideration the different parameters when a certain translation occurs in another cultural environment. First of all – the level of the translation, but also the topicality, the reviews, the influence, the stimulation of interest in the author, the recognition, the increase of intercultural dialogue, etc. With this award, for the second year in a row, a serious incentive is given to all literary translators from the Macedonian language to approach the translation of Macedonian literature with great care and to more often decide that the works of our authors will be offered by publishing houses from Europe and the world.
The second round for the award for the best translation into the Macedonian language "Dragi" has also been selected
Освен ова, жири-комисијата за доделувањето на наградата „Драги“ преку тајно гласање во вториот круг на селекција одлучи да влезат 10 преводни дела со изданија објавени од 10 издавачки куќи, во превод на 10 преведувачи и од 6 различни јазици. Делата што влегуваат во вториот круг (подредени по азбучен ред, според првата буква од името на преведувачите):
- Anastasija Gjurčinova for the translation from Italian of “The Intimate Life“ („Интимен живот“) by Niccolò Amaniti, published by Antolog, 2024;
- Darko Spasov for the translation from Slovenian of “Agni” („Агни“) by Borut Kraševec, published by “Čudna šuma”,, 2023;
- Gjoko Zdraveski for the translation from Croatian of “Three for Kartal” („Тројца за картал“) by Miljenko Jergović, Begemot., 2024;
- Ekaterina Babamova for the translation from English of “Victory City” („Градот на победата“) by Salman Rushdie, Artkonekt, 2023;
- Elisaveta Popovska for the translation from French of “A Girl’s Story” („Девојчински спомени“) by Annie Ernaux, published by “Ilika”,, 2024;
- Zvonko Dimoski for the translation from Polish of “For the Centaurs” („За кентаурите“) by Zuzanna Ginczanka, published by MA Production,, 2024; (PDF)
- Irena Jurčeva for the translation from English of “The Silmarillion” („Силмарилион“) by J.R.R.Tolkien, published by “Publisher”, 2023;
- Katica Garoska Acevska for the translation from French of “You are Poetry” („Ти си поезија“) by Patrice Pavis, published by “Perun artis”, 2023;
- Milan Damjanovski for the translation from English of selected poetry “Adam Horowitz” („Адам Хоровиц“), published by "Struga poetry evenings", 2023; (PDF)
- Tome Siljanoski for the translation from Serbian of “Notes of a Dirty Old Man” („Белешки на еден стар гад“) by Charles Bukowski, published by Begemot., 2023;
This year’s edition of the “Dragi” award is realized from the publishing house “Antolog”, with the support from the Ministry of culture and in cooperation with the Faculty of Philology "Blaže Koneski" – Skopje. The award consists of a plaque and a "Dragi" statuette, as well as a cash portion that will amount to 30,000 denars.
Initially for the award were nominated 43 works from 40 translators, published by 18 publishing houses or individuals, for translations made from 18 different languages and from all genres – novels, short stories, children’s books, poetry, drama.
The prize for the best translation into the Macedonian language "Dragi" was established in 2022, and the first honorary award was given to Dragi Mihajlovski (1951-2022), a Macedonian writer, translator, essayist and university professor. Apart from his prose works, Mihajlovski left a lasting mark on Macedonian culture with the translations of works by Shakespeare, Milton, Shelley, Keats, Blake, Eliot, Milton, etc. He also published several studies and essays in the field of translation theory, and with his views on translation, he influenced the students of the Faculty of Philology "Blaže Koneski" in Skopje, where he was a professor.
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