Skopje hosts first Balkan prose festival


Five Balkan esteemed writers have been invited to attend the first festival dedicated to Balkan prose literature "PRO-ZA Balkan", due to take place on March 4-6 in Skopje.

Vladislav Bajac from Serbia, Milenko Jergovic from Croatia, Andrej Blatnik from Slovenia, Alek Popov from Bulgaria and Andrej Nikolaidis from Montenegro are the first participants in the first-ever prose festival in Macedonia, organised by Ikona publishing house. Its goal is to promote literature from Balkan authors and to create a platform enabling authors and publishers to collaborate.

An award for the development of Balkan literature - "Prozart" - will be presented to Vladislav Bajac, who is the recipient of numerous recognitions, including Balkanika for his 2008 novel "Hamam Balkania".

Speaking at a press conference, festival's artistic director Aleksandar Prokopiev said the main criterion in choosing the authors to be invited to the first PRO-Za Balkan festival was their uniqueness.

"The five writers are stars, independent and great intellectuals. Alek Popov is unique and witty. Vladoslav Bajac is a well-known author in Europe for decades, Milenko Jergovic is probably one of the most controversial and most dynamic authors in Croatia, whereas Andrej Blatnik is perhaps the most famous Slovenian prose writer at the moment and Andrej Nikolaidis is a newcomer whose strict and raw works are already being translated in many Balkan countries," Prokopiev said.

The festival will also serve as a platform for Macedonian writers, who will take part in a debate titled "Mobility and Balkan Writers". 

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