The 48th edition of Goran’s Spring (Goranovo proljece), one of Croatia’s most  celebrated poetry events, took place on 21-23 March 2011 in several places across the country. The central part of the event, the declaration of this year’s laureates, which carries the name of one of the country’s greatest poets, Ivan Goran Kovačić, was held on 21 March in his birthplace Lukovdol.  

Established in 1964, Goran's Spring is the oldest poetry festival in Croatia. It is dedicated to preserving Goran Kovačić’s legacy and to promoting contemporary Croatian poetry. The event includes numerous poetry readings taking place in cities across Croatia. This year’s edition started with a poetry reading at the Oktogon in the capital Zagreb on the evening of the 20 March. The program then involved performances in Rijeka, and returned to Zagreb for the final closing ceremony on 23 March.

The central event traditionally takes place in Lukovdol on 21 March, the day of the great poet’s birthday and the first day of spring. This year’s laureates were Delimir Rešicki (1960), who was presented with the festival’s main award Goran's Wreath, and Martina Vidaić (1986) who won in the category of young poets with her first poetry manuscript, Tissues. Vidaić is the sixth female laurate in a row to win the Goran for Young Poets award. Around thirty poets from Croatia, Spain, Hungary, Slovenia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro took part in the programme.

In the days of former Yugoslavia, Goran's Spring gathered poets from all of the republics. In its formative years it was a non-competitive poetry reading event, a meeting venue for the country’s poets. Its two main awards were established in the 70s. First came Goran's Wreath in 1971, as recognition for a lifetime contribution to literature. This was followed by Goran for Young Poets in 1977, awarding first-time authors below the age of 30 and helping them publish their first work. In addition, several other recognitions are bestowed each year including awards for best literary works produced by primary and secondary school students.   

This year’s laureate, Delimir Rešicki, is one of the most influential authors of the so-called Quorum generation, named after the prominent literary magazine from the 80s. His work is regularly included in anthologies and reviews of Croatian modern poetry, and he has received recognition at home and abroad. His books have been translated into German, French, English, and Italian and other languages. His better known works include Happy Streets (1987), Die My Darling (1990), Sagrada Familia (1993), Book of Angels (1997), and Arrhythmia (2004). The jury’s justification for the award read that Rešicki’s efforts to put the “language of poetry in relation to other social languages, such as the language of Christianity, national history or sculpture, tend to open the issue of the political in literature”.  

Last year’s wreath went to Petar Gudelj (1933); whereas the award for a best new poet was given to Irena Delonga for her manuscript Words Buy the Crimes You Will Commit.

In 2009, the award for a lifetime contribution was presented to Branimir Bosnjak, and the Goran for Young Poets to Irma Velić for her Behind Sorrow.

Besides the traditional poetry readings, the Festival involves many supporting events such as an amateur recital competition, the concert “I sing the Poets”, and a symposium dedicated to the Life and Work of Ivan Goran Kovačić. Exhibitions of contemporary art complement the programme.  

A recently established cooperation with a French organisation called the Poets' Spring Festival brings in a lot of new visitors. Poets, critics, and literary aficionados come to Lukovdol in March and combine the cultural experience with the delight of the fresh, green, hilly landscapes in Gorski Kotor, a region south of Croatia’s border with Slovenia. 

The first Goran’s Wreath was awarded in 1971 to Drago Ivanišević, one of Croatia’s greatest contemporary writers and one of its first modernists, for his invaluable contribution to literature. 

Close to its half-centennial, Goran’s Spring is a priceless legacy of thirst for one of life’s finest beauties, poetry.