The Presence of Portuguese Contemporary Poetry at the Struga Poetry Evenings

Abstract

The idea of political union of a democratic Europe must be founded upon its cultural dimension. Poetry is a very important dimension of European civilization and an essential exercise of creative freedom for approximating individual human beings and countries. The topic of this paper will be the presence of Portuguese contemporary poetry at the Struga Poetry Evenings (SPE), an international poetry festival started in 1962. The SPE has a very significant role in reception and promoting the other literatures and cultures to the Macedonian authors and readership. The selection of Portuguese contemporary poetry at the SPE included several books: 1. The poetry of Vasco Graça Moura, the «Golden Wreath» Winner at the SPE (2004); 2. The selected poems of Casimiro de Brito (2006); 3. One anthology of the Portuguese contemporary poetry (2001). The literary translation has a very important mission: every Encounter with the Other creates a dialogue, but it also means Self-knowledge. This poetic «joint-venture» of Macedonia and Portugal (both with republican traditions in constructing the collective memory and history) through the SPE could be a good symbol: it does contribute to a long tradition of uniting the world through the word of the poets.