With the laureates’ evening and the presentation of awards, the 55th International Poetry Festival “Smederevo Poetry Autumn” came to a close in Smederevo this evening.
This year’s winner of the most prestigious award, the “Golden Key of Smederevo”, is the Nigerian poet Niyi Osundare.
He is an African poet, the author of more than twenty poetry collections, a scholar, an intellectual and a university professor. He has received numerous awards for poetry, including the “Noma” award for excellence in literary creativity and contributions to human rights in Africa. His poetry has been translated into several languages.
The fortieth “Golden Key of Smederevo” was handed to him by the Mayor, Jasmina Vojinović, who, congratulating all the winners of festival awards, stressed that “Smederevo Poetry Autumn” brings together poets from all over the world, proving that our city is a place where poetry from every meridian flows together and leaves a lasting mark on art.
The “Golden Key” laureate Niyi Osundare repaid the audience by reciting his verses, followed by words of thanks for the award and for the warm welcome in Smederevo.
The award for poetry for children, the “Golden Little Key”, went to the poet Boško Lomović, the “Golden String” award for an unpublished collection of poems to Aleksandar Marić, the “Tomislav Stevanović” award for the most beautiful poem about Smederevo to Vesna Nikolić, and the “Smederevo Orpheus” award for poetry of the native region to Milan Todorović.
The “Zlatko Krasni” Charter for the translation of contemporary poetry was awarded to Dragan Purešić, and the Charter of the newspaper “Naš glas” to Jovica Tišma.
Inviting the audience to meet the poets again next year, the festival director, Miljan Guberinić, stressed that the festival does not close, because, like Smederevo, it is always open.
The general sponsors of the 55th International Festival “Smederevo Poetry Autumn” were the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Serbia and the City of Smederevo. The sponsor of the “Poetic Meridians of Smederevo” was the Medical and Pharmaceutical School “Sveta Petka” Smederevo, and the friends of the festival were the Smederevo Cultural Centre, the Smederevo Public Library and the Rotary Club Smederevo.
