In 2022, the publishing house "Antolog" established the "Dragi" award for the best literary translation in the Macedonian language. The first honorary edition was awarded to Dragi Mihajlovski, PhD, writer, translator, essayist and professor whose name bears the award.
In 2023, 39 translators from 17 publishing houses were nominated, and in 2024 the number has increased to 40 translators and 43 works translated into the Macedonian language, from 18 publishing houses or individuals. Forty foreign authors from all genre categories were included – novels, short stories, poetry, children's books, plays. All this testifies to a branched and extensive translation production, but also to a very strong competition.
Apart from that, an international award "Dragi" is awarded, which this year goes to Benjamin Langer, university professor and translator, for the translation of the timeless novel "Pirej" by Petre M. Andreevski. The idea was prompted by the fact that 2024 marks the 90th anniversary of the author's birth, as well as 44 years since the publication of his most famous novel, which was published in a bravura translation into German by the prestigious publishing house "Gugoltz" from Berlin. The novel caused a great literary reaction among the German public. In one of the reviews of the work, the author Mirko Schwanitz noted: "Andreevski's language is firmly rooted in the rural dialect of his native village, which ensured the novel a place in world literature. The translator Benjamin Langer managed to translate into German the idiosyncratic and austere beauty of this language so finely that it can already be considered a candidate for the Leipzig Literary Prize.
The three-member committee for awarding the award consists of Dr. Jana Mihajlovska (representative of Dragi Mihajlovski's family), Zorica Nikolovska, PhD (representative proposed by the Faculty of Philology "Blaže Koneski") and Vladimir Jankovski (representative proposed by the publishing house "Antolog" ).
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.
The five finalists for 2024 are:
- Anastasija Gjurčinova for the translation from Italian of “The Intimate Life“ („Интимен живот“) by Niccolò Amaniti, published by Antolog, 2024;
- Gjoko Zdraveskifor the translation from Croatian of “Three for Kartal” („Тројца за картал“) by Miljenko Jergović, Begemot., 2024;
- Ekaterina Babamovafor the translation from English of “Victory City” („Градот на победата“) by Salman Rushdie, Artkonekt, 2023;
- Elisaveta Popovskafor the translation from French of “A Girl’s Story” („Девојчински спомени“) by Annie Ernaux, published by “Ilika”,, 2024;
- Irena Jurčevafor the translation from English of “The Silmarillion” („Силмарилион“) by J.R.R.Tolkien, published by “Publisher”, 2023.
