Skopje, 17 January 2023 (MIA) — The third winter school of Macedonian organized by the state university’s International Seminar for Macedonian Language, Literature and Culture will be held online Jan. 23–28 and welcome 40 international participants. They will study the Macedonian language and the poetry of Aco Shopov.

According to organizers, the Macedonian language and literature courses will be the first in a series of events celebrating the Macedonian poet’s birth centenary.

Attending the online classes will be Macedonian studies scholars and undergraduates from China, Vietnam, the United States of America, Australia, Turkey, Poland, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, the Russian Federation, Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

They include faculty and students from the newly opened Macedonian Language Departments at the Ankara University and at the Beijing University, both established in 2022.

Each of the Macedonian language and literature courses — for beginner, intermediate, or advanced learners — will take 30 hours to complete, with the advanced-level classes solely dedicated to the poetry of Shopov.

“This is expected to contribute to new readings of his work at foreign university centers, new literary translations, and potential projects promoting the work of this Macedonian literary great in foreign cultural environments,” organizers write.

The International Seminar for Macedonian Language, Literature and Culture's third winter school of Macedonian is part of the national program titled “2023, A Year Honoring Aco Shopov." mr/