Madzirov Recap

Macedonian poet and translator Nikola Madzirov visited UNL as a Prairie Schooner visiting writer. Yesterday (Wednesday 4/18) he gave a talk on the characteristics of Balkan literature. Madzirov linked the formal developments in Balkan literature with the historical-social movements of the times. Balkan literature, he claimed, tends to gloss the personal with the epic, the intimate with the mythic. Madzirov also spoke of his own journey as someone grateful to be able to leave home “by choice” instead of by exile. Finally, he offered some advice to translators, including the following: “The imperfection of language is one of its greatest perfections.”