Igor Isakovski

IGOR ISAKOVSKI, poet, prose writer, translator, editor. Born 19.09.1970, in Skopje, Macedonia. Died 15.12.2014, in Skopje, Macedonia. He took a BA in World and Comparative Literature, Sts. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, Macedonia. MA in Gender and Culture, CEU, Budapest, Hungary. He was completing doctoral studies at the Sts. Cyril and Methodius University. He was founder and director of the Cultural Institution Blesok where he worked as editor-in-chief since 1998. Published books: Letters (1991, novel), Black Sun (1992, poetry), Explosions, Pregnant Moon, Eruptions... (1993, short stories), Vulcan – Earth – (1995, poetry), – Sky (1996, 2000, poetry), Engravings, Blues Phone Booth (2001, prose etchings), Sandglass (2002, short stories), Way Down in the Hole (poetry, 2004), Swimming in the Dust (2005, 2010, novel, award Prose Masters2005), Blues Phone Booth II (2006, prose etchings, awarded 2007 annual prize for best visual-graphic design of a printed book), Interning for a Saint (poetry, 2008), The Night Is Darkest Before the Dawn (poetry, 2009, unique award winner of the 4th Belgrade Poetry and Book Festival in 2010), Vulcan – Earth – Sky (poetry, 2010), Love (poetry, 2011), Death Has Seaweed Hair (poetry, 2013). Selections and translations in other languages: – Sky (poetry in English, 1996, 2000), Sejanje smeha (Sowing of Laughter, selected poetry in Serbian and Macedonian, 2003), I & Tom Waits (selected poetry in English and Macedonian, 2003), Sandglass (short stories in English, 2003), I to je život (That's Life Too, new and selected poetry, published in Montenegro, 2007), Iz bliskov in ognja (From Glitters and Fire, new and selected poetry in Slovenian, 2011), Pjesčani sat (Sandglass, short stories in Croatian, 2012), Dlanovi puni srče / Дланки полни срча (new and selected poetry in Serbian and Macedonian, 2013), Светлината ве чека на рецепција / The Light Awaits You at Reception (selected and new poetry in Macedonian and English, 2013).

Isakovski has edited four anthologies (the latest is the bilingual Six Macedonian Poets, published by ARC publications, UK, 2011) and two CD-ROMs.

Translates poetry, prose, and essays, from and into Macedonian, English, Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Montenegrin, and from Slovenian into Macedonian. His Macedonian translations include books by Aleš Debeljak, Ludwig Giesz, Maria Todorova, Dušan Gojkov, Claude Freeman III, Robert Mlinarec, Josip Osti, Ronny Someck, M.T.C. Cronin, Goran Gluvić, Thomas Shapcott, Jack Galmitz, Gerrit Bussink, and Hans van de Waaresnburg. Into his Macedonian translations, there are more than 60 published books.

His poetry and prose works have been translated into sixteen languages and published in about twenty countries. Frequently travels and participates at European literary festivals and events. He was included in a vast number of selections and anthologies in Macedonia and abroad.

  • Poems

Seagulls above Rooftops

Reclining On Verses

  • About him

Melike Inci: Igor doesn't write poems, he does them

Melike Inci: About Everything and Nothing

Igor Isakovski - BG