The Miroslav's Gospel Award for 2021 was awarded to Milutin Mićović, for the book "Lights in the Darkness of Montenegro".
That decision was made by the jury consisting of Siniša Jelušić, Lidija Tomić, Radoje Golović, Radoje Femić and Miomir Đurišić.
In the explanation of the jury, it is stated that Mićović is a respected writer, essayist and publicist, author of novels, books of poetry, essays and debates, fragments and essays.
"He especially stands out as one of the best connoisseurs of Njegoš's work, writers of Slavic literature, interpreters of Slavic cultural heritage and spiritual and cultural ties between Montenegro and Russia. Milutin Mićović is represented in several of the most important anthologies of Montenegrin, Serbian and Slavic poetry, in relation to which single out the Anthology of contemporary Serbian poetry "Iz veka u vek", Moscow in 2003. He is the winner of many important awards: "Marko Miljanov", "Miodrag Ćupić", international awards "Portile poezie" ("Doors of Poetry"), "Order of VV Bolotov ", special recognition of the Union of Writers of Russia and other awards. He is the president of the Literary Society "Njegoš" and the editor of the cultural event "Dani Njegoševi", according to the announcement of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports.
It is added that the central theme of the award-winning book is the question of the historical destiny of Montenegro, with special reference to the significance and importance of the Njegošev tradition in the formation of the spiritual identity of Montenegro.
"For Mićović, Njegoš is always present in us, both through his birth and his suffering that gave birth to him and burned him in a few years. For Milutin Mićović, Njegoš is certainly "a poet with the strongest ontological foundation among Slovenian poets". In this sense, for Mićović Njegoš becomes "an isolated figure of our culture, because in his creative existence the drama became visible, not only of an exalted, martyred life, which started from the beginning, but also the drama of a tribe that set out to preserve its honor and name". The book "Lights in the Darkness of Montenegro", in addition to important levels of meaning, also has a primary educational role. In numerous public appearances and forums, Mićović critically reflects on contemporary life in Montenegro, political reality in the historical vertical of Njegoš's era and ours. The jury is of the opinion that Milutin Mićović's work "Lights in the Darkness of Montenegro" best expresses the essence of the Miroslav's Gospel Award, since it inherits the spirituality of our national culture," the announcement states.
Nineteen proposals were submitted for the Miroslav's Gospel award this year, and the jury selected the following works on the short list: "Lights in the Darkness of Montenegro" by Milutin Mićović; "Despev" by Bećir Vuković; "Ashes" by Radomir Uljarević; "Bloody Cathedral" by Ilija Lakušić; "Beauty of imprisonment" by Novica Đurić; "Time of Words: Association of Writers of Montenegro from 1946 to 2020" by Milica Kralj and Aleksandar Ćuković and "Sirens for the Alarm" by Nikola Nikolić.
The Miroslav's Gospel award will be presented to Milutin Mićović at the House of Rist Ratković in Bijelo Polje.
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