STA, 27 October 2021 - This year's Jenko Prize, Slovenia's top accolade for the best poetry collection in the past two years, was awarded to Nina Dragičević for her latest poetry collection To Telo, Pokončno (This Body, Upright), which has been praised as a book that is definitely needed at this moment in time.
This comes after Dragičević was nominated for the prize two years ago for her collection Ljubav Reče Greva (Love Says Let's Go).
Her latest work, which was published by independent publisher ŠKUC in 2021, is in many ways a sequel to Love Says Let's Go that focuses on the body and its multifaceted nature, including experiences, future possibilities and other factors that define it, said the jury.
"The subject opens up through the body in the poem and lets all these multitudes speak until the brink of exhaustion."
Dragičević's style is extremely personal and special due to a mix of various registers and helps convey a number of transformations, such as euphoria, silence in between, pain, joy and impulsiveness.
This Body, Upright is "a sort of poetic composition of our time and place that hides nothing, it throws everything in your face and convinces you with joyful rage".
Dragičević, born in 1984, is a poet, author, composer and sound artist. She holds a PhD in sociology.
The prize, which is handed out by the Slovenian Writers' Association, was presented to her in Kranj on Wednesday evening. Last year's winner Brane Mozetič also received his prize tonight as the ceremony was cancelled in 2020 due to Covid-19.
