Poetry collection "Children of the Street Passages" by the poet Marko Stanojkovski will be presented today in Podgorica, in the "Dodest" hall of the Cultural and Information Center (KIC) "Budo Tomović" from 19 p.m.
This is the first independent book of poetry by Marko Stanojkovski, published by the publishing house “Platforma knjiga” from Podgorica. The writer will talk about the book with the author at the promotion. Vasko Raičević who also signs the preface to the collection.
Raičević points out that in the collection “Children of the Alleys,” the experience of youth in a post-transitional space is shaped through quiet, precise, and visually powerful images of the contemporary city. The verses, he adds, suggest a peaceful movement among the ruins left by previous generations.
“These verses do not arise from a need for rebellion or a manifesto, but from the position of a passive but extremely sensitive observer who moves among urban ruins, cold streets, passages and neighborhoods devoid of illusions. Marko Stanojkovski’s poetry is immersed in everyday life, but without a hyperrealistic accumulation of details. The city is depicted as a distanced space: walls, cafes, bridges and streets convey a sense of alienation, while the lyrical subject is denied the possibility of epiphany or change. Instead, what remains is a meditative recording of the instability of contemporary living space and existential loneliness,” Raičević writes.
He recognizes that the collection's atmosphere often evokes dystopian and cinematic associations - from futuristic scenes reminiscent of "Blade Runner" to poetic references to Tarkovsky, Paradzhanov i You see Nova, but without direct citation, he states.
“Intertextual layers, as well as subtle references to Western and Eastern cultural traditions, reinforce the feeling of incompleteness and loss of belonging. ‘Children of the Alleys’ is the poetry of silent existence in a world without empathy - a book that offers neither comfort nor solutions, but clear and disturbing images of a generation deprived of faith in big words and a bright future. It is precisely in this restraint and simplicity that its strong artistic value lies,” Raičević wrote.
Marko Stanojkovski was born in 1998 in Podgorica. He completed his undergraduate studies in English language and literature at the Faculty of Philology in Nikšić. He has been a member of the KIC Young Writers Forum since its establishment in 2015. He is one of the finalists of the 47th Ratković Poetry Evenings in Bijelo Polje, and was shortlisted for the competition organized by the publishing house “Treći trg” for his first book in 2018. His poetry has been published in anthologies and literary magazines..
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