21.8.08 The international poetry reading "Poetic Meridians" will mark the launch of the 47. Struga Poetry Evenings (SPE) on Thursday evening in Struga, which this year will host fifty local and 70 foreign poets from 45 countries worldwide.

The 2008 recipient of SPE's Golden Wreath award, Albanian poet Fatos Arapi, arrived in Struga yesterday. He stated that poets from the Balkans build with their verses a special mosaic, which cannot be torn down.

- By doing so, they make poetry to become even stronger. The more we learn about each other, the bigger understanding and love we have for one another. I'm coming to Struga as a poet, not as an Albanian, because poetry, as well as language and culture, don't make any difference, said Arapi, who will be presented with the Golden Wreath on Sunday during the manifestation "Bridges", which traditionally closes the festival.

A tree will be planted today in his honour in the Park of Poetry, whereas Arapi's literary portrait will be held in "St. Sofia" church in Ohrid on August 23 with a sermon from academic Gane Todorovski.

After Thursday's opening ceremony, the traditional event "A Night Without Punctuation" will take place, where the young Croatian poetess Antonija Novakovic, winner of the UNESCO award "Bridges Over Struga" for best young poet, will be presented.

This year's Struga Poetry Evenings will also host numerous events, such as symposium "Language, Poetry, Identity", manifestation on marking the 100th anniversary since the birth of writer Koco Racin, international poetry meeting "Bridges" where the Golden Wreath and other awards will be presented on festival's final day.

The traditional evening of national poetry this year is dedicated to Ukraine, thus a collection of contemporary Ukrainian poetry will be launched.

After SPE will be closed, its participants on August 25 will have the opportunity to take part at the manifestation "Poetry on the Road" and will visit many other towns in Macedonia.