Skopje, 13 June 2025 (MIA) — The Macedonian Writers Association's 2025 Literary Scepter lifetime achievement award ceremony will kick off Friday the association's two-day Linden Festival, an anual literary event celebrating linden trees in blossom.

According to organizers in a press release, this year's national winner of the MWA Literary Scepter award for lifetime achievement in poetry is Slave Gjorgjo Dimoski. The international winner of the Literary Scepter lifetime achievement award is Serbian poet Radmila Lazic.

MWA president Zhivko Grozdanoski will present the award to Dimoski and President Gordana Siljanovska Davkova will present the award to Lazic, organizers said.

Zoran Jakimoski will speak about Dimoski's poetry and Katica Kjulavkova will speak about Lazic's poetic oeuvre.

The MWA will also launch a Literary Scepter collection of poems by Dimoski and Lazic.

The poetry reading scheduled for Saturday will feature performances by MWA members Mirjana Trencheva, Vladimir Martinovski, Suzana Miceva, Jusuf Sulejman, Gordana Jovikj Stojkovska, Milcho Misoski, Iskra Doneva, Kalosh Celiku, Daniela Andonovska Trajkovska, Lulzim Haziri, Fima Kletnikova, Borche Panov, Lejla Sherif Emin, Branko Prlja, Vanja Izova Veleva, Dejan Trajkoski and Ljubinka Doneva.

At the end of the event, organizers will present the Linden Festival 2025 prizes for best poem on the subject of linden trees, short story related to linden trees and essay on linden trees. This year's Linden Festival competition theme was "Between the Landscape and the Concrete." mr/