Kajetan Kovič (21 October 1931 – 7 November 2014) was a Slovene poet, writer, translator, and journalist. In 1978, he received the

Prešeren Award The Prešeren Award ( sl, Prešernova nagrada), also called the Grand Prešeren Award ( sl, Velika Prešernova nagrada), is the highest decoration in the field of artistic and in the past also scientific creation in Slovenia. It is awarded each yea ...

, the highest artistic award in Slovenia, for his poetry collection ''Labrador.''

Life

Kovič was born in

Maribor Maribor ( , , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is also the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, th ...

in 1931 and spent his childhood in the small town of

Poljčane Poljčane () is a settlement in northeastern Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Poljčane. It lies 35 km south of Maribor and 35 km northeast of Celje. The area is part of the traditional region of Styria. The town lies i ...

and Hrastje–Mota near

Radenci Radenci (; german: Bad Radein) is a town on the right bank of the Mura River in the Mura Statistical Region of northeastern Slovenia. It is a well-known spa town and was first mentioned in written documents dating back to 1436. After 1833, when a n ...

in eastern Slovenia. He graduated from high school in Maribor and received a bachelor's degree in

comparative literature Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across linguistic, national, geographic, and disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role similar to that of the study ...

from the

University of Ljubljana The University of Ljubljana ( sl, Univerza v Ljubljani, , la, Universitas Labacensis), often referred to as UL, is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. It has approximately 39,000 enrolled students. History Beginnings Although certain ...

in 1956. He died on 7 November 2014.Kos, David, & Deja Crnović. 2014. "Umrl je pesnik in pisatelj Kajetan Kovič." ''Siol.net'' (7 Nov.).

Career

Kovič started writing poetry in high school, and he published his first poetry in 1948. He was best known for his poems and he wrote several bestselling

children's books A child (plural, : children) is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers ...

. Kovič also wrote

political poetry Political poetry brings together politics and poetry. According to "The Politics of Poetry"by David Orr (journalist), David Orr, poetry and politics connect through expression and feeling, although both of them are matters of persuasion. Political ...

, such as a poem in honor of

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his deat ...

. He established himself as a translator of German, French,

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

, Hungarian, Croatian, Serbian, and Russian poetry into Slovene. He also translated the poems that

France Prešeren France Prešeren () (2 or 3 December 1800 – 8 February 1849) was a 19th-century Romantic Slovene poet whose poems have been translated into many languages.

wrote in German into Slovene.

Awards and recognition

Kovič won the Prešeren Foundation Award in 1967 for his poetry collection ''Ogenjvoda'' and later the Grand Prešeren Award in 1978 for his poetry collection ''Labrador''.Slovenian Ministry of Culture, complete list of the Grand Prešeren Awards recipients
/ref> In 1993, he received the Jenko Award from the Slovene Writers' Association for his poetry collection ''Sibirski Cirkus'' ("Siberian Cycle"). Two years later, he was made a member of the

Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts The Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( sl, Slovenska akademija znanosti in umetnosti (SAZU)) is the national academy of Slovenia, which encompasses science and the arts and brings together the top Slovene researchers and artists as members o ...

.Kajetan Kovič on the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts site, (''in Slovene'')
/ref>

Poetry collections

*''Utonil bi'' ("I Would Drown," 1948) *''Pesmi štirih'' ("Poems of the Four," 1953) co-authored with

Janez Menart Janez Menart () (29 September 1929 – 22 January 2004) was a Slovene poet, best known for his Intimism (Slovene poetry), Intimist poetry. He translated a number of classic French poetry, French and English poetry and drama wor ...

Ciril Zlobec Ciril Zlobec (4 July 1925 – 24 August 2018) was a Slovene poet, writer, translator, journalist and former politician. He is best remembered for his poems, publishing several volumes of poetry in his lifetime. In 1990 he became a member of the P ...

and

Tone Pavček Tone Pavček (; 29 September 1928 – 21 October 2011) was one of the most influential Slovene poets, translators, and essayists from the first post-war generation. He published numerous collections of poetry, well received by readers and cri ...

*''Prezgodnji dan'' ("The Earliest Day," 1956) *''Korenine vetra'' ("The Roots of the Wind," 1961) *''Ogenjvoda'' ("Firewater," 1965) *''Vetrnice'' ("Whirligig," 1970) *''Mala čitanka'' ("Small Reader," 1973) *''Pesmi'' ("Poems," 1973) *''Labrador'' (1976) *''Dežele'' ("Lands," 1988) *''Poletje'' ("Summer," 1990) *''Letni časi'' ("The Seasons," 1992) *''Sibirski ciklus in druge pesmi raznih let'' ("The Siberian Cycle and Other Poems of Various Years," 1992) *''Lovec'' ("Hunter," 1993) *''Glas'' ("Voice," 1998) *''Vrt'' ("Garden," 2001) *''Kalejdoskop'' ("Kaleidoscope," 2001) *''Pesmi'' ("Poems," 2003) *''Vse poti so'' ("All Paths Are," 2009)

Prose

* ''Ne bog ne žival'' ("Neither God nor Beast," 1965) * ''Tekma ali kako je arhitekt Nikolaj preživel konec tedna'' ("The Race, or How the Architect Nicholas Spent His Weekend," 1970) * ''Iskanje Katarine'' ("Searching For Catherine," 1987) * ''Pot v Trento: prizori iz navadnega življenja Franca M.'' ("Voyage into the Trenta Valley: Scenes from the Ordinary Life of Franc M.," 1994) * ''Profesor domišljije: ljubljanska zgodba'' ("The Professor of Imagination: A Tale of Ljubljana," 1996) * ''Jutranji sprehajalec'' ("The Morning Perambulator," 2005) * ''Sled sence zarje'' ("A Trace of the Shadow of Dawn," 2006) * ''Mala nebesa'' ("Small Heavens," 2008)

Children's books

* ''Franca izpod Klanca'' ("Francine From Under the Steep Hill," 1963) * ''Zlata ladja'' ("The Golden Ship," 1969) * ''Moj prijatelj Piki Jakob'' ("My Friend Piki Jacob," 1972) * ''Maček Muri'' ("Muri the Tomcat," 1975) * ''Zgodnje zgodbe'' ("Early Tales," 1978) * ''Križemkraž'' ("Crisscross," 1980) * ''Zmaj Direndaj'' ("The Dragon Direndaj," 1981) * ''Pajacek in punčka'' ("The Puppet and the Little Girl," 1984) * ''Križemkraž: zgodnje pesmi, zgodnje zgodbe in še malo mačje godbe'' ("Crisscross: Eearly Poems, Early Tales and a Bit of Cat Music," 1991) * ''Mačji sejem'' ("Cats' Fair," 1999)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kovic, Kajetan Writers from Maribor Slovenian poets Slovenian male poets Slovenian journalists Slovenian translators 1931 births 2014 deaths Prešeren Award laureates Members of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts Slovenian children's writers Levstik Award laureates University of Ljubljana alumni 20th-century poets 20th-century translators