Skopje, 10 October 2023 (MIA) - This year's Babylon Award for Best Young Translator was presented to Blagoja Jovanovski for his exemplary translation of “The Magician” by Colm Tóibín from English to Macedonian. For the tenth consecutive year, the Delegation of the European Union to North Macedonia in partnership with the Association of Translators and Interpreters MATA presented the award on Monday. 

The event took place at the National and University Library "St. Kliment Ohridski" in honor of the European Day of Languages.

EU Ambassador David Geer presented the award. Additionally, a highlight of the evening was the premiere of the short film "Home of the Language", a production by Europe House to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the first school class in Macedonian language, scripted by the writer and BABYLON award ambassador Vladimir Jankovski. The film can be found at the following link: https://youtu.be/t2YSpkFL4SY.

The Babylon Award, initiated by the Delegation of the European Union in 2013, has the aim to encourage and support young translators and emphasize the importance of quality in literary translations. The contest is tailored for budding translators, aged 26 or younger, offering them the platform to showcase their translation prowess from any of the 24 official languages of the European Union into the diverse languages spoken in the country.

Photo: Delegation of the European Union to North Macedonia