The Grand Prize “Orpheus” of the International Poetry Festival in Plovdiv for an exceptional contribution to poetry this year is awarded for:
The reformatting of the stage into blues and jazz in the Bulgarian poetic art of the 90s,
For the weaving into the poetic language of the everyday and the ubiquitous, here and there, on the street and the road,
For life as poetry and poetry as life in verses,
For the unique combination of words from the lower with words from the upper order,
For the centripetalism of nostalgia and the centrifugality of the fleeting,
For the breath of cinnamon in the velvet season of October,
For the weaving of small biographies into the common autobiography of a generation,
For the sense of the dramatic in poetry and the sense of the comic in dramaturgy.
For a Greek in Sofia.
It is for the Bulgarian poet Elin Rahnev.
He is the sixth winner of the award at the International Poetry Festival “Orpheus” – Plovdiv at its eighth edition.
The Grand Prize “Orpheus” is not awarded to every edition, but only as an exception.
Previous winners of the prize are the American poet George Wallace, the Bulgarian poets Zlatomir Zlatanov and Georgi Gospodinov, the Turkish poet Ataol Behramoglu, the Plovdiv poet and researcher of the Balkan people Yordan Velchev, the Bulgarian poet and playwright Mirela Ivanova.
Elin Rahnev with the Grand Prize of IPF “Orpheus” – 2025
The Grand Prize “Orpheus” of the International Poetry Festival in Plovdiv for outstanding achievements to poetry this year is awarded for:
– The reformatting of pop into blues and jazz in the Bulgarian poetic art of the 1990s,
– For weaving the everyday and the ubiquitous, the here and the beyond, the street and the road, into poetic language,
– Of life as poetry and poetry as life in verse,
– About the unique blending of lower order words with upper order words,
– On the centripetal nature of nostalgia and the centrifugal nature of the fleeting,
– For the breath of cinnamon in the velvet season of October,
– On the weaving of small biographies into the total autobiography of a generation,
– On the sense of the dramatic in poetry and the sense of the comic in playwriting.
– For one elin in Sofia.
It goes to the Bulgarian poet Elin Rahnev.
He is the sixth winner of the Grand Prize of the Orpheus International Poetry Festival – Plovdiv at its eighth edition.
The Orpheus Grand Prize is not awarded at every edition, but by exception.
Previous winners of the prize are the American poet George Wallace, the Bulgarian poets Zlatomir Zlatanov and Georgi Gospodinov, the Turkish poet Ataol Behramoglu, the Plovdiv poet and researcher of the Balkan man Yordan Velchev, the Bulgarian poet and playwright Mirela Ivanova.
