Nikola Madzirov

Nikola Madzirov (poet, essayist, translator) was born in 1973 in Strumica, in the family of war refugees from the Balkan Wars. When he was 18, the collapse of Yugoslavia prompted a shift in his sense of identity – as a writer reinventing himself in a country which felt new but was still nourished by deeply rooted historical traditions. His poems are translated into more than forty languages.

For the book Relocated Stone (2007) was given the international Hubert Burda poetry award for the writers born in East Europe and the most prestigious Macedonian poetry award Miladinov Brothers at Struga Poetry Evenings. Other recognitions include Studentski Zbor award for best poetry debut and Xu Zhimo Silver Leaf award for European poetry at King’s College, Cambridge in UK. American jazz composer Oliver Lake; the Pulitzer Prize winner and composer Du Yun; the American composer and singer Becca Stevens and the founder of “Snarky Puppy” — Michael League have composed music based on Madzirov's poems. He was granted the following international fellowships: International Writing Program (IWP) at University of Iowa; Yaddo and MacDowell in US; DAAD in Berlin; Marguerite Yourcenar in France and many others. Nikola Madzirov is one of the coordinators of the international poetry network Lyrikline, based in Berlin. He edited the Macedonian edition of the Anthology of World’s Poetry: XX and XXI Century. He is editor of the literary magazine Stremež and curated and moderated events at Poesiefestival Berlin, Stockholm International Poetry Festival, Struga Poetry Evenings. Nikola Madzirov has translated some of the work of Louise Glück, Yehuda Amichai, Ilya Kaminsky, Li-Young Lee, Slavenka Drakulić, Vasko Popa, Georgi Gospodinov and others. He was member of the jury for the largest international poetry award for a single book, The Griffin International Poetry Prize in 2023. His poetry collection “Remnants of Another Age” was published by “BOA Editions” in US and by “Bloodaxe Books” in UK.