The poetry collection “Blue Network” by Marina Ikonomova Shokeva will be promoted at the café-bookstore “Bukva” on September 27 at 19:30. The event will feature promoter Snezhana Stojchevska, who will read alongside the author and D. A. Lori. Additionally, video poetry inspired by Shokeva’s work, created by Damjan Shokev, will be presented.
According to Stojchevska, “Blue Network” explores mental experiences through two contrasting poetic styles: natural and urban poetry, along with metaphors and direct images of everyday life. Reviewer Juliana Velichkovska described the collection as “Songs for those who struggle to taste freedom, which feels so close yet remains distant due to the invisible webs fate has woven.”
Marina Ikonomova Shokeva, born in Ohrid in 1966, graduated from the Department of English Language and Literature at the Faculty of Philology “Blaze Koneski” in Skopje. She is the author of several poetry collections, including “Pictures from the Well” (2017), “Direct Addresses” (2019), “The World and I” (2021), and “Blue Network” (2024), all published by PNV Publications. Her poems have appeared in various literary magazines across the Balkans and have been featured in the Ledbury Poetry Festival.
Shokeva’s work is also included in “Samodivi: A Panorama of Macedonian Poetry Written by Women” (2023). In 2019, she won second prize at the “Quando e la vita ad invitare” online competition in Italy and received the special “Antevo slovo” award in Sicily. She has participated in poetry readings both locally and regionally and serves as one of the editors for the cultural magazine “(e)Lit.”
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