As part of Veronika's Poetry Week, which we are preparing for the first time this year in collaboration with the Celje House of Culture, we will organize four events before the big evening, which we call Veronika's Poetry Night.

The second event will take place on August 22nd at 6 pm at Kavarna Zvezda Celje, where we will host Boris A. Novak. He will be interviewed by the conceptual father of the Veronika Award, Jože Volfand.

The Golden Book of Poetry for his lifetime poetic work and creative enrichment of the Slovenian language, as selected by Borut Gombač, will be awarded to Boris A. Novak. Writer, theorist, translator, professor, academic and Prešeren Award winner for lifetime achievement.

"Language is not a means, but a space for poetry," wrote Boris A. Novak, a poet with a rich and in every sense diverse and impressive oeuvre, years ago. Novak is not only the greatest Slovenian master of poetic forms and a subtle creator of verbal "sound that means and meaning that sounds," but with each new poem, whether with a minimalist "definition" or an expressively flourishing epic, he expands the "space for poetry" with such a full-blooded poetics that we, its admirers, are not only overwhelmed by the power of its expressiveness, but are also unobtrusively but compellingly invited to self-questioning and searching for our own role in time and space. Borut Gombač writes in the explanation of the award.

Veronika's evening of poetry and music, with the announcement of the recipient of the Veronika Award and the presentation of the poetry and little Veronika gold medal, will be held on August 27 at Celje Castle. Music by Bilbi & Band, and the keynote speaker will be Dušan Šarotar.

You are welcome.