The National Library (NB) "Radosav Ljumović" in Podgorica has announced a competition for the Annual Regional Award for the best poetry book published in 2025. This is a newly established literary award that the Library Council introduced this year with the aim of affirming contemporary poetic creativity in the areas of Montenegro, Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The award will be presented once a year for the best work of poetry published in the previous calendar year, and authors and publishers whose books were published during 2025 are eligible to participate. Poetry selections or reprints of previously published works will not be included in the competition.
Collections and books of poems published in Cyrillic or Latin script may be submitted to the competition, provided that they were published in one of the four countries covered by the regional character of the award - Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina or Croatia.
Publishing houses, cultural and other institutions, organizations and associations, as well as informal groups of citizens and individuals have the right to nominate candidates. Nominators are required to submit four copies of the nominated works no later than June 25, 2026, to the address of the Library - Njegoševa 22, 81000 Podgorica, with the indication “For the NB 'Radosav Ljumović' Award”.
The best book of poems will be decided by an expert jury appointed by the library director, consisting of prominent experts in literary creation and literary criticism. The winner will receive a cash prize of three average monthly salaries in Montenegro, as well as the NB “Radosav Ljumović” charter.
The award ceremony is planned for the last week of September, at the Library in Podgorica. The new award represents a significant step forward in the support and promotion of contemporary poetry in the region, with the intention of becoming one of the most relevant literary awards in the former Yugoslavia.
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