Struga Poetry Evenings (SPE) is an international poetry festival held every year in Struga, North Macedonia. For many years, the festival has honored some of the world's most famous poets with its most important award, the Golden Wreath. Past winners include Mahmoud Darwish, Sachchidananda Hirananda Vatsyayan Agyey, W. H. Auden, Joseph Brodsky, Allen Ginsberg, Bulat Okudzhava, Pablo Neruda, Eugenio Montale, Léopold Sédar Senghor, Artur Lundkvist, Hans Magnus Enzensberger, Nichita Stănescu, Ted Hughes, Ko Un, Adunis, Makoto Ooka, Miroslav Krleža, Yehuda Amichai, Seamus Heaney, Tomas Gösta Tranströmer, Bei Dao, Amir Or, and local poets such as Blaže Koneski and Mateja Matevski.
History
The festival started in 1961 in Struga, then part of the People's Republic of Macedonia, and only included Macedonian poets. In 1963, it added poets from other countries in the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The Miladinov Brothers Award was created to honor the best poetry book published between two festivals, becoming the most important poetry award in the country. By 1966, the event became an international cultural festival. That same year, the Golden Wreath international award was created, and its first winner was Robert Rozhdestvensky. In 2003, the festival worked with UNESCO to create another award called The Bridges of Struga, given to the best debut poetry book by a young writer. Over its long history, the festival has welcomed about 4,000 poets, translators, essayists, and literary critics from about 95 countries worldwide.
The festival has honored many important writers, including several Nobel Prize for Literature winners such as Joseph Brodsky, Eugenio Montale, Pablo Neruda, and Seamus Heaney. It also recognized Léopold Sédar Senghor, the first African member of the French Academy and former president of Senegal, Ted Hughes, the official royal Poet Laureate, and W. H. Auden, considered one of the greatest writers of the 20th century.
A notable fact is that the festival often honored foreign poets who were seen as dissidents in their home countries. These included Joseph Brodsky, a Russian poet who lived abroad; Pablo Neruda, a Chilean poet; Allen Ginsberg, an American poet; and Bulat Okudzhava, a Soviet bard.
To honor the award winners, the Park of Poetry was created near the Struga Cultural Center. This park has memorial boards that remember each of the laureates.
Organization
The festival has offices in Struga and Skopje. Each office has a director, an executive, and a technical secretary. The festival is managed by a Festival Board. This board includes experts in poetry, such as poets, literary critics, translators, and professors who study comparative literature and culture.
Events
The festival includes several events held at different places. These events are workshops, group discussions about social issues and how they affect poetry, and other similar activities. Another part of the festival is called the Caravan of Poetry, which involves poetry performances in different areas of the country. After the festival ends, the organizers also hold poetry readings in the capital city, Skopje.