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Quotes about Šopov
- Without a doubt, The Long Coming of Fire is a considerable achievement. Grau and Kramer’s scrupulous, coruscating translation and meticulous paratexts offer an excellent entry point for English-speaking readers into the tormented, passionate, and surprising world of Aco Šopov’s poetic creation. Denis Ferhatović, 2024
- Aco Šopov gives us the fire smoldering in the roots of trees, in the black sun, in the silence before the poem is composed. Sean Cotter, professor of literature and translation at the University of Texas at Dallas, 2023
- In these incantatory lines, strikingly stark images of the natural world blend with revelatory reflections on and from the human interior. Šopov keeps our eyes and our minds focused on the eternal chiaroscuro of existence. Time and again, he dazzles us with ‘those flashes of lightning that sleep in darkness.’Boris Dralyuk, Ukrainian-American writer, 2023
- With Šopov, we are not dealing with confessional or solipsistic poetry, although in places it may seem that way; ultimately, there is no self-obsession here. Rather, a focus on the self leads to what is universally human. Christina E. Kramer & Rawley Grau, 2023
- It seems to me that Aco Šopov’s poetry is seductive and fascinating not only because of its author’s great talent and mastery, but also because of its nobility and idealism, which may seem almost utopian and anachronistic – especially today, when pragmatism and technocracy triumph at the expense of spirituality. In reality, however, this nobility and idealism convey universal values, which focus on man and his origins, timeless values on which human existence is based and from which it draws its energy. Roman Kissiov, Bulgarian poet and artist, 2013.
- Šopov has shifted the horizon of contemporary Macedonian poetry. Katica Ćulavkova, 2012
- I had the feeling, when I read some of his poems, that I was hearing a distinctly different voice, perceiving an entirely unique sound and taste. Claudia Schwartz, Argentinian publisher (Editorial Leviatán), 2011
- At first glance, Aco Šopov’s poetic universe may seem inaccessible, such as a mysterious and dark fortress, full of apocalyptic scenes, lifelong tears, unhealed wounds, contradictions… But if we were to force the gates of this fortress and decide to follow the poet on his way through ruins and rubble, we would find that after all these sinuous twists and turns, the meanders that criss-cross this supposedly enclosed world all lead to a blossoming, a dazzle, an illumination. Jasmina Šopova, Macedonian translator, 2011.
- There is a fusion of content and spirit in a form that allows a certain ambiguity; the formal elements of rhythm and versification are not added decoration but are integral to the whole structure of the poetry as an organizing principle. The author’s main concern here is the conflict between humanity and the nature of existence and a resolution of that conflict. Graham W. Reid, British philologist, 2005
- And when we think we’ve said everything about him, Aco Šopov still surprises us. Jovanka Drugovac, Macedonian literature researcher, 2003
- No one feels like a stranger in Aco Šopov’s poetry. Bahgat Elnadi, Egyptian writer, 2002.
- There is a cosmic resonance in Aco Šopov's poetry […] that makes it reach the very source of life. Adel Rifaat, Egyptian writer, 2002
- Šopov’s poetry is outstanding for its qualities of uprightness, nobility and modesty. Yves Bergeret, French poet, 2002.
- Aco Šopov’s poetry, deeply rooted in his Macedonian homeland, is, in equal measure, projected into the universal. - Edouard J. Maunick, Mauritian poet, 1994
- Poetry – and more so this [Aco Šopov's] poetry – removes us from time and space all the while anchoring us mysteriously over time and in specific places. As violent as it is tender underneath, it speaks the truth in accessing the innermost being. Federico Mayor, UNESCO Director-general, 1993.
- Aco Šopov was like a literary aristocrat who took poetry as his adoptive sister, his only accomplice, his only confidant. The purity of his poetic language, especially in his second phase of literary creation, rivals that of the masterpieces of Central European literature. He was able to unite and harmonise the contributions of classicism and romanticism in a prodigious way, enriching them with new forms and enabling our poetry to skip entire stages on the path to progress. With him, Macedonian poetry spread its wings and soared to the top. − Gane Todorovski, Macedonian poet, 1993
- In his poetic wanderings, Aco Šopov never took the beaten path, nor did he allow any barrier or obstacle to obstruct the movement of his thought [...] In his creative quest, he walked through bushes and thickets, rather than along the broad avenues of verified and attested poetic concepts. − Izet Muratspahić, Bosnian literary critic, 1984
- If it is true that readers always give new meaning and new life to poetry, then they shall know how to prolong Šopov’s poetic words, brutally interrupted by death. Radojica Tautović, Srbian Literary critic and essayist, 1982
- A subtle lyricist, a sensitive observer, and a poet of intense personal experiences, he has enriched Macedonian poetry at the very beginning of the new period, thus creating models for the younger poets. He was also one of the first to liberate Macedonian poetry from a prevalent non-esthetic criteria in the late nineteen forties. Vasa D. Mihailovich, Serbian-American scholar, 1977.
- Šopov uses words and language deliberately, as an instrument of thought and emotion that is, at the same time, the musical instrument of his lyric art. – Ciril Kosmač and Bratko Kreft, Slovenian writers, 1967
- In Macedonian poetry, which for centuries was isolated from the mainstream of European literature and which has enjoyed favourable conditions for its development only in the last two decades, the work of Aco Šopov has opened up a new poetic realm and set the basic principles of that vast thing we call our modernity. − Alexandre Romanenko, Russian poet, 1964