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, and ...

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 meani ...

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 ''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 three hills to ...

. 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 '' ...

, 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 The Counts of Celje ( sl, Celjski grofje) or the Counts of Cilli (german: Grafen von Cilli; hu, cillei gr ...

, 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 ...

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, correct ...

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 ...

* 2008 -

Miroslav Košuta Miroslav Košuta (born 11 March 1936) is a Slovenes, Slovene poet, playwright and translator from Križ, Sežana, Križ by Trieste, a younger representative of Intimism (Slovene poetry), Intimism and Socialist Realism. On 7 February 2011, he recei ...

* 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 * 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 * 2013 -

Niko Grafenauer Niko Grafenauer (born 5 December 1940) is a Slovenian poet, essayist, literary historian, editor and translator. He is particularly known as author of popular children literature, and for his active participation in the Slovenian public life, e ...

* 2014 - Tone Kuntner * 2015 - Gustav Januš * 2016 - Marko Kravos * 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