The poet and translator died at the age of 86 Erika Voukannounced today from family circles. In 2024, Vouk received the Prešeren Award for Lifetime Achievement, and she also received many other high literary awards for her poetic creations.
Vouk was born on February 27, 1941 in Maribor. She studied philosophy and psychology. Her first poetry collection White Eurydice was published in 1984. She published her songs in 11 collections between 1984 and 2018. They were translated into several languages. Some were set to music by the singer-songwriter Peter Andrej.
The desire to make sense of the world
In the justification of the Prešeren Award for Lifetime Achievement, which she received in 2024 as the second poet in the history of awarding this award, it was written that Vouk is characterized by the tendency to cultivate language and the desire to make sense of the world, and the fundamental characteristic of her confession is the mental flexibility with which she connects the smallest fragments of the world or pushed to the edge parts of herself with the infinity of the universe. With her minimalistic and elite confession, she created an original and influential poetic voice, which appeals restrained, but aesthetically perfect.
Vouk has received many other awards for her work, as her works are placed at the top of Slovenian poetry. In 2015, she received the Glazer Award, Maribor’s highest cultural award, in 2004, the Veronika Award, and in 2002, the Jenka Award. That year she became a knight of poetry.
Vouk was also the author of several translations, especially dramatic ones. Among the translations, the translation of the second part certainly stands out Faust Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
In the last period of her work, she focused on writing ballads. She has not given interviews in recent years due to illness, but in the past she said that writing poetry is what makes her happiest in life.
