Cooperation with the French P.E.N. Centre

The delegation of Macedonian writers, consisting of Dimitar Bashevski, Vlada Uroshevik and Resul Shabani, members of the Macedonian P.E.N. Centre, on invitation by the French P.E.N. Centre visited Paris from 19th - 20th April. After the two day discussions between the Macedonian and the French Centres and the poetry performance by the Macedonian writers, the Treaty for cooperation between the two centres was concluded and signed. The president of the Macedonian P.E.N., Mr. Dimitar Bashevski, as well as the president of the French P.E.N. Centre, Mr. Jean Blot, signed the Treaty, whose contents state that in the interest of a tighter cooperation between the Macedonian and French literatures, the two centres agreed to stimulate the meetings among writers from both countries and to stimulate cultural exchange in all its forms.

Firstly, on 19th April, in the offices of the French P.E.N. Centre, there was a meeting between Mr. Jean Blot and Mr. Dimitar Bashevski, followed by a round table discussion on the topic The Tendencies of the Contemporary Macedonian Literature. The Macedonian writers spoke separately for the tendencies of the contemporary Macedonian literature, and the writer Resul Shabani specifically in the context of the Albanian literature in Macedonia. A number of French writers joined the discussion, reminding of their participation and the significance of the Macedonian Literary manifestations, such as the Struga Poetry Evenings, the annual Ohrid P.E.N. Conference, or the World Congress of the International P.E.N. in Ohrid, 2002.
 
In the evening of 20th April, as a part of the meeting of the Macedonian and French P.E.N. Centres, there was a round table discussion titled Poetry and Diplomacy. The discussion took place in the famous Molier Theatre, in front of a distinguished audience mainly comprised of French writers. The Macedonian writers performed a poetry reading of their poems written in Macedonian and Albanian. The French translations were magnificently interpreted by the artist Jean-Luis Philippe.

The delegation of Macedonian writers, during their stay in Paris visited the Culture Department of the City of Paris and discussed the experiences of this Department in the fields of realisation of the culture programmes and the possibility of connecting Paris and Skopje, Macedonia on a cultural level.

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