Project Description
Tihomir Janchovski (24 August 1967 – 30 January 2026), poet, professor, prose writer, translator, and columnist. Born in 1967 in Skopje. One of the most widely read authors in his country, winner of the “Golden Ladybug of Popularity 2024,” an award in Macedonia usually reserved only for actors and pop artists. He graduated in General and Comparative Literature (1991), specialized in Medieval Studies (1996), and earned a Master’s degree in Contemporary History (2008). He lived in Skopje, Brussels, the island of Skiathos in Greece, Amsterdam, London, and Budapest. He worked as a journalist, musician, hotel room attendant, gardener, columnist, translator, and professor of literature, academic writing, and world history. He published sixteen books of poetry, three novels, two children’s books, and one collection of columns. He was also the author of around twenty literary translations. Last he worked exclusively as a writer and translator. He lived in Skopje and in Skopska Crna Gora, living off literature. From 2021 he was a professional writer, the only one in Macedonia. From 2024 he also was prepare and perform music-poetry performances (poetic theater) together with Branislav Nikolov, in the project ‘The Wolf of Love.
He didn`t receive domestic or international literary awards or recognitions, because of his character and personal views, as he considers awards meaningless. Literary art cannot and must not be a competition, and true evaluation of the value of works requires distance in time, not participation in contests – he believed.
He participated in numerous festivals in Macedonia, the Balkans, and throughout Europe. Selections of his poetry was translated and published in many renowned literary journals. His work was translated into 16 languages: English, French, Slovak, Serbian, Croatian, Albanian, Bosnian, Greek, German, Georgian, Slovenian, Russian, Ukrainian, Persian, Italian, and Polish.
He was represented in several anthologies and selections of national, Balkan, and world poetry.
Four of his books was published in translation: “Years” (Sarajevo, 2017); “The Noise of Loneliness” (New Jersey, 2018); “Needle and Thread” (Belgrade, 2025); and “Grammar of Love” (Bratislava, 2026, forthcoming).