Pupils attending Croatian language instruction in Macedonia, led by their teacher Vedran Iskra and pupils from the Skopje city district of Ilinden, led by their teacher Ivana Velinovski Boceska appeared for the first time at this year’s Rešetari poetry gathering
Pupils attending Croatian language instruction in Macedonia, led by their teacher Vedran Iskra and pupils from the Skopje city district of Ilinden, led by their teacher Ivana Velinovski Boceska appeared for the first time at this year’s Rešetari poetry gathering.
This traditional poetry event in Rešetari has for its eighteenth consecutive incarnation played host this September to poets from around the world. The poetry gathering opened at the athletic gymnasium of Ante Starčević Elementary School with a meeting between young poets from elementary schools from across the western part of Brod-Posavina County and fellow poets from abroad.
Ivan De Villa, the president of the Rešetari Culture & Visual Arts association, welcomed the gathered and was joined in his greetings by Jasna Aničić of the Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and Sport, Dijana Mašala Perković from the Croatian Heritage Foundation, Ante Starčević Elementary School principal Tihomir Batalo and Croatian-Canadian businessman Anton Kikaš. The Croatian community in Macedonia was represented by poet Ljerka Toth Naumova.
Appearing at the event were pupils from the Municipality of Lupak in Romania, led by Petar Hategan, and young poets from Skopje, Tetovo and Bitola in Macedonia learning the Croatian language. The poems of Ahil Trendafiloski, Anastasija Đorđevska, Maja Tomevska, Matea Janevska, Neda Filiposka, Matej Ivanković and Magdalena Džunkovska have been included in the event miscellany. They were joined by young poets Elena Gjeorgjievska, Teodora Gjorgjievska and Filip Simonovski from the Municipality of Ilinden with their teacher Ivana Velinovski Boceska.
The 8th collection (miscellany) featuring young poets has been titled Čarobna torba (The Magic Bag) and was presented by Gabrijela Vojvodić, who noted that the miscellany is an encouragement to young poets living outside of Croatia to write in the Croatian language and thus preserve it in their milieus.
The State Office for Croats Abroad provided financial support for the project of the Croatian Community in the Republic of Macedonia that saw poets from that country take part in the 18th Rešetari Meeting of Poets and made it possible for school pupils learning the Croatian language in Macedonia to read their poems in their mother tongue.
Text by: Ljerka Toth Naumova
Photo:
1 – The appearance by the pupils from Macedonia in Rešetari
2 – The guests and their hosts
3 – In front of the monument to Toše Proeski in Nova Gradiška