site.btaKrustyo Ralenkov Wins Major National Poetry Award

Krastyo Ralenkov is the winner of the Ivan Nikolov National Poetry Award for 2022. The award was presented to him at a ceremony in the Chamber Hall of the Youth Theatre in Sofia, the organizers from the "Janet 45" publishing house announced Wednesday.

Ralenkov won the prize with his book "Death Questions Already Who You Are", which came out in August. The jury motivated their choice with "the bits of philosophy that are detracted from this poetry without interfering with the artistic". In their view, the author demonstrates an erudition that does not interfere with wonder at the world and life. "This poetry cannot be mistaken for any other," the jury wrote.

The National Poetry Prize is being awarded for the 26th time. It was founded in 1994 by the "Janet 45" publishing house.

The first winner of the prize was Hristo Fotev. Among the other laureates over the years are Elin Rahnev, Petar Chuhov, Axinia Mihailova, Ivan Dinkov, Konstantin Pavlov, Ivan Teofilov, Ivan Metodiev, Ekaterina Yosifova, Georgi Borisov, Kristin Dimitrova, Stanka Pencheva, Silvia Choleva, Marin Bodakov, Georgi Gospodinov, Valentin Dishev, Krasimir Vardiev, Yana Bukova, Nadezhda Radulova and Prof. Tsocho Boyadzhiev.