“European Writers’ Council as Europe’s largest federation of writers’ associations offers a chance for a wide range of capabilities to strengthen and enhance our bilateral and multilateral cooperation.” Read more about the new EWC member The Association of Writers of Macedonia. 

“Друштво на писателите на Македонија (The Association of Writers of Macedonia) is the oldest, largest, well-established North Macedonian literary association, quintessential of the Macedonian literature and culture. The historic work of the Association in the past has shown to be instrumental not only to the enrichment of literature but also to the advancement of literary standards and the development of culture as a whole.

The Association’s objective of creating viable means of communication with other associations and writers’ societies is a driving force for its international activities.

Bringing literature closer to the attention of readers internationally

“We strongly believe that writing itself is a separately creative, but also a communication-level artistic process that extends beyond the borders of language“, Markovski, the authorised representative for activities related to EWC and an editor of AWM’s literary review Stožer, points out.

Fairly recently the Association has started to become increasingly open and responsive towards young Macedonian writers, poets, playwrights, literary critics, and essayists, building upon the wider perspective of how 21st-century North Macedonian literature is developing and evolving.

However, as the expansion of digital technologies has taken its toll on the traditional means of communication that encompass literature, and the ever-declining attention span of the younger generations (Gen Y, Z, Alpha…)  has shifted and continues to skew towards progressively more interactive and attention-absorbing forms of entertainment, the longer forms of literary expressions that enhance precise observations, imagination, rethinking, critical thinking, recalling, as well as other kinds of “mental sharpening” processes that heighten the variety of cognitive and other skills, are becoming more pertinent and important than ever.

The persisting international activities through the decades have delivered more attention to the writer on an individual level, focusing more on the work of certain foreign authors, rather than national literatures, represented or not represented by their corresponding national associations.

Therefore, as technology is redefining the fabric of the reality in which we surmise and communicate about literature and art, it is imperative for any association of writers to pivot around the incoming evolution of literature (that will be accepted and utilized by both the creators of literature and readers), but also invest efforts into inventing its own means of directing the way for both authors/creators and readers/recipients of literature.

On the other side, one of the fundamental characteristics of every national literature is to properly share its contribution to art and culture on the world’s stage, and the literary Associations can and are here to play a key role in this process.

 

Stefan Markovski, authorised representative for activities related to EWC and an editor of AWM’s literary review Stožer. Photo: © by Dimitar Novakov

The Association of Writers of Macedonia / Друштво на писателите на Македонија – a brief description

From its very formation on 13.02.1947, the Association of Writers of Macedonia and its members have been in the very epicenter of literary manifestations, which incorporate the foundation and the ongoing activities of international literary festivals, such as The Struga Poetry Evenings, The Racin Meetings, Feast of Linden, and a variety of other literary events. It has promoted the widespread and ever-developing usage of the Macedonian language in all literary genres after its official codification, based on the ideas of K. P. Misirkov, a line of activities that bears its contribution to the international recognition of the Macedonian language on the Third UN Conference on the Standardisation of the Geographical Names, held in Athens in 1977.

The historic work of the Association in the past has shown to be instrumental not only to the enrichment of literature but also to the advancement of literary standards and the development of culture as a whole. Its founding members, as well as the members within the first few decades of its existence, were amongst the most prominent intellectual minds and even some political leaders in the country at the time. This was partly due to the criteria for awarding the traditional literary awards for every genre, but also because of the stimulation of a variety of events, such as debates, tribunes, seminars, public discussions, meetings, gatherings, and polemics.

The promotion and affirmation of Macedonian literature in the world has been one of the core pillars of the Association’s work, and in the past, within former Yugoslavia, dozens of visits, events, manifestations, book translations, residencies/stays, or other types of literary exchanges of both Macedonian writers and writers from other European countries were carried out with some involvement of AWM.

The adequate treatment, evaluation, and adaptation/adjustment of literature for children as well as educational books, based on long-term cooperation with the relevant educational and/or governmental institutions, has also been a major field of AWM’s work, continuing to this day.

And last, yet surely not least, the publishing endeavors and contribution to the North Macedonian publishing industry have been another important aspect of the Association’s ventures, taking into account the fact that, even though for a brief period, it was the publisher of the oldest Macedonian literary magazine, Nov den (the predecessor of the literary magazine Sovremenost that exists to this very day), as well as anthologies, selected segments of works of both Macedonian and foreign authors.

The Association continues to publish its literary review Stožer, dedicated to the promotion of all literary genres from writers that write originally in North Macedonian, but also in other languages spoken in the country or other countries, to a wide range of readers. 

Website: dpm-pisateli.mk
Contact: info(at)dpm-pisateli.mk

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Five new members were welcomed by the General Annual Assembly of the European Writers’ Council (EWC) in Berlin 2023:

The European Writers’ Council is delighted to announce the ratification of five new members and welcomed the colleagues warmly by the Assembly on 04 June 2023:

— Друштво на писателите на Македонија The Association of Writers of Macedonia, North Macedonia
––IG Autorinnen und Autoren, Austria
–– SNAC The National Association of Authors and Composers, France
–– DSF Dänisch Authors of Fiction and Poetry, Denmark
–– La Scam Société civile des auteurs multimedia, France

Learn more about them in the section: OUR MEMBERS

The EWC continues to expand its diversity, competence, collegiality and cohesion through this strong enrichment of its new members and colleagues. The European Writers’ Council represents 220,000 professional writers and translators in the book and text sector in all genres, from 49 European national organisations of professional writers and translators in 31 countries including the EU, the EEA countries Iceland and Norway, as well as Belarus, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, altogether writing in 34 languages.