Croatia rediviva: Ča, Kaj, Što – baštinski dani

Croatia rediviva: Ča, Kaj, Što – baštinski dani is a Croatian poetical manifestation, gathering poets of all Croatian dialects functioning as literary languages.

The founder of the festival is the Croatian poet, physician and ambassador Drago Štambuk. He is also the author of the Wall of Poetry (Zid od versi) at the central square in Selca, onto which plates of the wreathed poets (poetae oliveati) are mounted, with engraved year of the wreathing, name of the poet and a few verses carved into the Bračian marble. The principal idea of the festival is that of the threefoldness of the Croatian language, and the idea of koinéisation (mixing) of all three Croatian dialects (Čakavian, Kajkavian and Štokavian) as an expression of language commonness. Organisers of the manifestation are the association "Hrvatski sastanak 1888" and the Croatian Writers' Association.

The festival is held annually in the picturesque village of Selca at the island of Brač, usually in mid-July, even though there were cases where it was held much earlier, such as the first one which was held on Holy Saturday, March 30, 1991. Every poet reads his own verses, in one of the three Croatian literary idioms, at the main stone-covered square of "Stjepan Radić" in front of numerous interested admirers of the Croatian literary word.

The pinnacle of the festival is the election of the most successful poet, who is "crowned" with the wreath of olive leaves. The decision is made by a three-member jury composed of the founder and earlier wreathees (oliveati).

The crowned poet (poeta oliveatus) and the founder then choose the verses that shall be engraved into the marble plate and mounted onto the Wall of Poetry of the central Selcan square, right in front of the church of the Christ the King. The versified plate is of white Brač marble.

Every five years the founder edits and publishes the selection of the poems of the wreathed poets that were read during the festivals of the period, entitled Maslinov vijenac ("The olive wreath"). So far three titles have been published (1996, 2001, and 2005).

The wreathed poets - poetae oliveati

References

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