Struga, 25 August 2025 (MIA) – Slovak poet, storyteller, essayist and translator Ivan Štrpka was presented with the Golden Wreath award for 2025, the highest honor at the 64th Struga Poetry Evenings, at a ceremony held Sunday evening in Struga.

At the international poetry gathering Bridges, the Miladinov Brothers award for the best poetry book in Macedonian published between two festivals was presented to poet Julijana Velichkovska for her collection “Rajsfershlus”. The Bridges of Struga young poet award was presented by the festival and UNESCO to Polish poet Mateusz Szymczyk for his first poetry collection “Sources Needed”.

In addition to the awards, poets from various parts of the world read poems at the gathering.

The festival began on Thursday with the traditional planting of a tree in the Poetry Park in honor of the laureate and the lighting of the festival flame. According to festival organizers, as part of Poetry on the Road program, a panorama of Macedonian wine poetry titled “Dionysus and Saint Tryphon” will be promoted Monday in Kavadarci.