The International Poetic and Cultural Manifestation “Ante Popovski – Ante’s quill” – a traditional event that is yet to become a synonym for the true values of the Macedonian literary reality

Abstract

The text raises the question of the significance of literary manifestations for literary reality. The thesis is that the significance of a specific literary manifestation in this digital age is not predominantly conditioned by its format and how conventional or modern it is, but by whether its mission is primarily based on aesthetic and literary criteria and consequently, by its content – how much new impulses it gives to the literary life. As a confirmation of this perception, the text highlights the international poetic and cultural manifestation “Ante Popovski – Ante’s Quill”, which has been part of the Macedonian literary reality for four years. Although it is quite new, with an aspiration to become traditional manifestation, and although it is organized in a conventional format and program, without pretentious efforts for non-standard program contents, it is already recognizable on the Macedonian cultural map, as an event that simultaneously seeks to invest in the valorization and affirmation of the lasting values of the Macedonian culture, to promote the Macedonian literary production, to enable less affirmed authors to emerge from the shadows of living literary monuments and to encourage literary science. Moreover, the text analyzes and valorizes the achievements of this year’s edition of the manifestation. Particular emphasis is placed on the international scientific symposium which posed key and hitherto unactualized questions about the creative work of one of the greatest Macedonian authors of the 20th century – Ante Popovski. At the same time, the concept of the manifestation is analyzed, which is constantly evolving, enabling it to be an event that leaves a mark and can lead to happenings that will one day have to be written down in literary history.