October 3, 2024, Skopje - With the event "The Literary Metaphysics of Alessandro Barrico: The Metamorphosis of the Imagination," which includes an online conversation with the author Alessandro Barrico from Italy, this year's jubilee edition of the festival of European literature "Bukstar". This is also the first of its kind direct contact of the great Italian and world author with his Macedonian audience, after the translation of the novel "Silk" into the Macedonian language took place in 1999 and thus his name became a sensation in our cultural context.
The conversation will emphasize his most important works, his views on literature, of the pleasure of writing and reading and of the stories that he still hides them within himself.
Bariko receives a special "BookStar" X10 award for exceptional achievements in the literature. The event will be held in the cafe-bookstore "Bukva" starting with at 6 p.m.
During the day, two closed events will be held in the "Laboratorium". One event is the Publishing Europe Fellowship, conceived as professional meeting between foreign and domestic representatives of the publishing house sector. The second event is called "Smart Talk" and foreign participants participate in it and domestic publishers, translators, writers and cultural managers. It will also be held informal tourist tour "When the writer walks writers", which this time will led by Tijana Milikj.
Icelandic writer Jón Kalman Stefánsson was presented with the "Bookstar" award
The Bookstar Award 2024 for the trilogy "Between Heaven and Hell" of the Icelandic writer Jón Kalman Stefánsson, took place last night in "Laboratorium".
The statuette and the plaque were awarded to him by Žarko Kujundjiski, organizer of the festival and editor-in-chief of "Antolog", who emphasized that this trilogy is a deep and intimate story.
- A comprehensive experience that penetrates most deeply into man, providing him with a primordial a journey through nature – the trilogy "Between Heaven and Hell" by Jón Kalman Stefánsson is a testament to the lyrical quality woven into a prose work, the author's skill in combining a poet's idiolect with a story conceived by prose writer...The author's pictorial depiction of relentless Icelandic nature it draws to the deepest part of man – despair in order to glorify the saving power of friendship. This trilogy can be classified as exceptional a personal and deeply intimate story – not because the reader is brought into the miraculous nature in Stefánsson's world but precisely because of everyday feelings that are process – sadness, pain, hope, joy. This year's laureate of the award "Bookstar" Jón Kalman Stefánsson has that power through his writing and the most everyday happenings and feelings to make unique trips on the imagination of the reader from which he will not come out the same, as he was on the beginning - pointed out Kujundjiski
After the award, the author had a conversation with Aleksandar Madjarovski and Nikola Madjirov.
- At the age of eighteen, I dreamed of becoming an astronaut after watching a show in which Carl Sagan talked about the universe. I was completely overwhelmed by that richness and by the mysteries of the universe – later I realized that it was, in a way, and the essence of fiction - said Stefansson.
He emphasized that his writing about nature is not tendentious, as well as that that he wants to write because he wants to change the world and touch the deepest people, to heal their wounds.
- I don't consciously write about nature. It's just in me, that's the way I'm breathing. For me, writing is creating the world. The writer is a creator, and co it is also a god. But God errs, because everyone who creates errs. You can't in advance you know what to write about. You simply sit down and start. I want to change it the world with writing, I want to touch people. I write to make a living, to fight against oblivion. I write because it is all I can do - Stefansson pointed out.
Migration and (r)evolution with José Luís Peixoto from Portugal and Zdravka Evtimova from Bulgaria
The literary evening and the conversation with the authors José Luís Peixoto from Portugal and Zdravka Evtimova from Bulgaria passed with many applauses from the audience. The authors talked about the characters of their characters, but also about what they carry in themselves as people. The event was moderated by Aleksandar Madjarovski.
Evtimova delighted the audience with her strong, human messages, emphasizing that we are all winners.
- Cruelty must not be what guides us. We can all have such a period, but what should guide us is humanity. My main message to the people is that no one can beat you, you are the winners! - Evtimova pointed out.
Speaking about literature as a tool that can be used to fight for justice, Evtimova emphasized that literature is respect for all people, but not a fight.
- Fighting associates me with fist fighting. Literature is the common heart of all. And no heart wants to be struck, because it will not only be broken, but it will die. Literature is respect for others, and that respect is exercised only through sincerity. The truth should be told - said the author.
Portuguese author José Luis Peixoto spoke about migration, but also how spiritual and personal migrations shape the collective history of individuals in society.
- I can't write about what I want. I can write about the things I am capable of writing about. We don't always have a plan of what to write. What we must do is find our voice, our natural voice. We all have different habitats and histories. You can live in Portugal, in Macedonia, in China, in Mexico, but human nature is the same everywhere - concluded Peixoto.
The literary evening ended with a concert by "Čalgija Sound System".
The third day of the festival had a rich program and started with "Literary opening to Europe - Macedonian experience" - the second convention of representatives of the publishing sector as part of the Publishing Europe Fellowship program. The event was held at the Faculty of Philology "Blaže Koneski" - Skopje, where Miřenka Čechová and Paola Peretti had a meeting with the students.
The "Dragi" 2024 best translation awards were also announced, and a panel discussion "Reading and Translating Kafka" was held at Europe House in honor of the worldwide commemoration of the centenary of Franz Kafka's death.
The festival is held under the slogan "The Metamorphosis" and is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of North Macedonia, the literary network Traduki, EU with YOU, the Embassy of the Czech Republic and Republic of Italy, the Cultural and Information Center of the Republic of Bulgaria in Skopje, the Italian Institute of Culture in Belgrade, the Icelandic Literary Center and the "Camões" Language and Cooperation Institute. The media sponsor is the Macedonian Radio Television. The visual identity is the authorship of Maja Plačkoska, who also produced the festival video.
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