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LITERATURE
Robert Alagjozovski
The author is a literary critic
and a PhD candidate(ABD)
in Cultural Management
About the absent
To the novel The return of the words by Goce Smilevski, edition by Dijalog, 2015
As usual for this column, we after the great success, after the best-
would start the review to the selling album. Our author chose another
last novel by Goce Smilevski novel with the same genre manner as the
with several considerations winning two. After reading the work, we
in terms of his literary career can conclude that he made a good aes-
and the perspectives in the international thetic decision because he created a solid
literary industry. At the moment, he is novel, at the level of the previous ones.
undoubtedly the most famous Macedo- We would indicate the arguments for
nian author with the most translated this later. I wouldn’t start a discussion
works. Although, for Macedonian condi- whether maybe a better decision would
tions, he is maybe relatively young, he be to surprise his readership and critics
was embellished with these flattering by presenting a novel with a different
epithets at international level, his age is style. However, the change of the style
quite adequate for European and world must by accompanied by a good result.
glory. Having this in mind, we would say It is important that he managed to main-
that Smilevski is currently at a risky point tain the continuity within the set poetics.
in his career, in a sort of a whirlwind, However, now a question is asked weath-
that is, deleted space. He quickly reached er, despite of the good continuity of the
the zenith in terms of the awards, regard- plan of the aesthetics, Goce Smilevski
less of the fact that he used this in an ex- can expect continuity, even strengthen-
cellent way by providing translation of ing in terms of the sale of copyrights,
his novels in more than thirty languages. of the representation in many world
Namely, the second novel by Goce Smi- languages and the international promo-
levski, Conversation with Spinoza, won tion. Of course that the world agents will
the prestigious national award Novel of continue the sale of rights referring to
the year by Utrinski Vesnik, and the third the aesthetic continuity and the already
novel Freud’s Sister won the Award of Lit- acquired awards and results from the
erature by the European Union and the previous books. However, Return to the
Award for Mediterranean Culture. This words one year after its publishing, has
nice sequence of awards provided him only several sold rights for translation in
the status of most translated and well other countries. It is not my intent to un-
promoted Macedonian author at an in- derestimate, I would only like to refer to
ternational level. Entering the system of the record by Freud’s Sister. It seems to
the literary industry, Smilevski also won me that it would be ideal when this book
numerous international reviews and crit- would get some new awards although the
icism, something which is very rare for most prestigious national and European
an author from Macedonia. Same as in awards have already been won. Maybe
the music industry, probably the writer the regional award Balkanika? However,
Smilevski faced the dilemma what to do every jury is autonomous, so Smilevski
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