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Kovič Kajetan
(1931-2014)
Tales

Kajetan Kovič is a member of the generation which, by bringing out a prominent collection of verse Four Poets (Pesmi štirih, 1953), broke with the required politically correct poetry of social realism. The images of class struggle and working victories were replaced by a poetry initially oriented towards intimacy, to stories of interpersonal proximity and distance. Kovič's further development led to a philosophical lyric poetry, disciplined in imagery and classical in form, whose central motif is often the image of a cold, distant landscape, heralded in the titles of collections Labrador (1976) and Siberian Cycle (Sibirski ciklus, 1992). Among the influences must indisputably have been the poetry Kovič selected to translate into Slovenian, mostly from German (especially Georg Trakl and Rainer Maria Rilke); he is also co-editor of an extensive anthology of contemporary German poetry.

Kovič is the author of several novels; his first works of fiction from the sixties deal with the sense of barrenness in the contemporary world, while his novel Track to Trento (Pot v Trento, 1994) turns to history, more particularly to the time of the Isonzo Front during WW 1. To round off Kovič's artistic output there are his prose and poetry works for children, among which the story of the lovable teddy-bear My Friend Piki Jakob (Moj prijatelj Piki Jakob) is an all-time favorite with Slovenian children and a best-seller translated into several languages.

Slovenia, 2000, Tom-cat Muri

Slovenia, 2000, Tom-cat Muri