The Veronika Award ( sl, Veronikina nagrada) is a literary award in

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

awarded each year for the best Slovene

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

collection of the year. It has been bestowed since 1997 by the Municipality of Celje at the Veronika Festival that takes place at

Celje Castle Celje Castle (also known as Celje Upper Castle or ''Old Castle'') (Slovene language, Slovene ''Celjski grad'', ''Celjski zgornji grad'' or ''Stari grad'') is a castle ruin in Celje, Slovenia, formerly the seat of the Counts of Celje. It stands on ...

. The festival and the award are named after

Veronika of Desenice Veronika of Desenice (died 17 October 1425) ( hr, Veronika Desinićka; sl, Veronika Deseniška, ''Veronika z Desenic'') was the second wife of Frederick II, Count of Celje. Early life Little is known of her early life. It is believed the name ''D ...

, wife of

Frederick II, Count of Celje Frederick II ( sl, Friderik II. Celjski; german: Friedrich II Graf von Cilli) (17 January 1379 – 13 or 20 June 1454) was a Count of Celje and Ban of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia. Early life Frederick was the son of Hermann II, Count of Celje ...

, accused of

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...

incarcerated A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correcti ...

in Ojstrica Castle and murdered in around 1425. The winner receives a financial award. Since 2005 a separate ''Poetry Gold Medal'' is bestowed on a poet for their life achievement that has contributed to the richness of Slovene poetry, language and culture.

Veronika Award laureates

Poetry Gold Medal recipients

* 2005 -

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 ...

* 2006 -

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 ...

* 2007 -

Kajetan Kovič Kajetan Kovič (21 October 1931 – 7 November 2014) was a Slovene poet, writer, translator, and journalist. In 1978, he received the Prešeren Award, the highest artistic award in Slovenia, for his poetry collection ''Labrador.'' Life Kovič w ...

* 2008 -

Miroslav Košuta Miroslav Košuta (born 11 March 1936) is a Slovene poet, playwright and translator from Križ by Trieste, a younger representative of Intimism and Socialist Realism. On 7 February 2011, he received the Prešeren Award The Prešeren Award ( sl, ...

* 2009 -

Ivan Minatti Ivan Minatti (22 March 1924 – 9 June 2012) was a Slovene poet, translator, and editor. He started writing poetry before World War II, but principally belongs to the first postwar generation of Slovene poets. He is one of th ...

* 2010 -

Neža Maurer Neža Maurer Škofič (born 22 December 1930) is a Slovene poet and writer. She writes for children, young adults and adults and has also worked as a translator, journalist, editor and teacher. Neža Maurer was born in the village of Podvin ...

* 2011 -

Veno Taufer Veno Taufer (born 19 February 1933) is a Slovenian poet, essayist, translator and playwright. Under the Communist regime, he was a driving force behind alternative cultural and intellectual projects in Socialist Slovenia, which challenged the ...

* 2012 -

Svetlana Makarovič Svetlana Makarovič (born 1 January 1939) is a Slovenian writer of prose, poetry, children's books, and picture books, and is also an actress, illustrator and chanteuse. She has been called "The First Lady of Slovenian poetry." She is also noted f ...

* 2013 - Niko Grafenauer * 2014 - Tone Kuntner * 2015 - Gustav Januš * 2016 -

Marko Kravos Marko Kravos (born 16 May 1943) is a Slovene poet, writer, essayist and translator from Trieste, Italy. He was born in Montecalvo Irpino, a small village in the Southern Italian region of Irpinia, where his family was sent to confination by ...

* 2017 - Andrej Brvar

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br>30 June 2017 ''Zlatnik poezije Andreju Brvarju'' Poetry Gold Medal goes to Andrej Brvar
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References

External links

Former Veronika Award site

Official Veronika Award site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Veronika Award Slovenian literary awards Awards established in 1997