The ceremonial awarding of the “Žiča Chrysobull” to poet Saša Radojčić was held in the refectory of the Žiča Monastery, on the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, on Wednesday, August 19th, 2026, starting at 12 p.m. The ceremony was opened with the church chanting of the prayer “Our Father”, performed by Jana Križak, Verica Trikoš, Bojana Srećković, and Rade Milićević, which gave the program a solemn and spiritual tone.
The program of awarding this prestigious poetic recognition was led by Ana Gvozdenović, MA, editor for essay and criticism of the National Library “Stefan Prvovenčani” Kraljevo. Speaking about the “Žiča Chrysobull”, Gvozdenović reminded that this recognition is awarded to a poet whose entire work represents high value in contemporary Serbian literature and grows on the main currents of Serbian poetic tradition, effectively connecting that tradition with the poetic currents of his own time.
This year’s laureate is poet, literary critic, essayist, and translator Saša Radojčić from Sombor. The decision about his selection was made by the Jury composed of: last year’s laureate Gordana Đilas, president of the Jury Dragan Hamović, Dejan Aleksić, Ana Gvozdenović, and Miloš Milišić. In its explanation the Jury stated that the “Žiča Chrysobull” for 2026 is awarded to Radojčić “for poetry of listening to the meaning which renews and reveals itself to us”.
Gvozdenović also reminded of the biographical data of the laureate: Saša Radojčić was born in 1963 in Sombor, graduated and received his doctorate at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Belgrade, and received his Master’s degree at the Faculty of Philology. He teaches at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Belgrade as full professor. Besides writing poetry, he deals with literary criticism, essay writing, philosophy of art, and translation from German. She reminded of his collections: “Uzalud snovi” (1985), “Kamerna muzika” (1991), “Amerika i druge pesme” (1994), “Elegije, nokturna, etide” (2001), “Četiri godišnja doba” (2004), “Duge i kratke pesme” (2015), and “To mora da sam takođe ja” (2020). Radojčić is, among other things, the winner of the awards Branko Ćopić”, Đura Jakšić”, “Lenka’s Ring”, the “Milan Bogdanović” award for literary criticism, the “Dis Award” for entire poetic work, and the “Zmaj Award for the best poetry book.
Then actor Nebojša Dugalić recited poems of this year’s laureate “Naši stari” and “Pohvala” (prave stvari).
Dragan Hamović, PhD, president of the Jury for the Award “Žiča Chrysobull”, spoke about the poetic creation of this year’s laureate and explained why his work occupies a special place in contemporary Serbian poetry. Hamović began his presentation with the assessment that Saša Radojčić, “in an epoch of general and superficial display”, stands out as one of the rare poets who does not rely on “the baggage of adopted foreign thoughts,” but strives for “initial and pure insights”. According to Hamović’s interpretation, Radojčić’s poetry requires precisely such an approach: philosophical quotes and allusions, as well as the broad cultural context of Radojčić’s poems, should not be seen as the main key to understanding their meaning. These elements are present, but they do not essentially determine his poetry.
Speaking about Radojčić’s understanding of poetry, Hamović interpreted his poetics as an attempt at “renewing the youth of a long‑tired world”, that is, as an effort to see the world again directly, without unnecessary and pre‑given mediations. The simplicity of the poem, according to this interpretation, arises from liberation from all pre‑set keys and imposed patterns.
In Radojčić’s work, as Hamović emphasized, one constantly encounters a chain of fundamental identifications of language and man, being and poem. Concluding his presentation, Hamović emphasized that Radojčić consistently follows the commands of his “inner hearing”, which connects him with tradition, and that as a poet he is continually recreated by relying on traditional ground as a natural foundation.
After another choir performance and poetic recitation by Nebojša Dugalić, literary critic, poet, and long‑time associate of the library “Transfiguration” Aleksandar B. Laković addressed the audience. He emphasized the relevance of Radojčić’s work both within poetry and more broadly. He pointed to the poet’s ability to return for decades to the same motifs, deepening them and viewing them from new angles thanks to life experience and erudition.
Laković stressed that at the center of Radojčić’s poetry remains the poetic subject who speaks about the position of man under conditions of existential threat. He especially emphasized the poet’s sense of measure, that is, the ability to express layered meanings in everyday, understandable language. As confirmation he mentioned the latest book of selected poems “Glad za pesmom” (Hunger for Poetry), which in chronological order brings 99 poems from nine earlier collections. He characterized it as a view of the entire poetic path, not as a new poetic whole.
Speaking about the development of Radojčić’s expression, Laković noted that the early collections carried rebellion and quiet dissatisfaction, while in later books, along with fear of oblivion, the need for self‑knowledge grew stronger. As illustration he mentioned verses in which the poetic subject asks whether he is really the one “whose hand writes” the verses. In this way he pointed to the search for identity through the concepts of house, skin, and sentence, with the sentence representing “the poet’s home”, the space of language and words.
The critic also reminded of Radojčić’s thought: “A poem is a miracle, the unspoken is heard.” In it he saw the essence of the poet’s relationship to language and his desire to express what remains unspoken. He pointed to the dialogue that Radojčić’s work conducts with poets such as Jovan Hristić, Miodrag Pavlović, Boris H. Radović, Aleksandar Ristović, and Miroslav Maksimović, and especially Stevan Raičković, as well as the kinship with Ivo Andrić in relation to silence. He emphasized that, despite all these connections, Radojčić remains an authentic and self‑standing poet.
Laković also emphasized that Radojčić’s poetry, although often quiet and seemingly modest in expression, does not accept defeat: in it there is a constant struggle for hope and faith in the possibility of returning what seems lost. He ended his presentation by reading a poem in which the dialogue of two old men on a bench, according to his interpretation, symbolizes inner division and man’s search for his own identity.
Mayor of Kraljevo Predrag Terzić presented this year’s laureate Saša Radojčić with the “Žiča Chrysobull”, a work of artist Slobodan Luković. The monetary part of the award was handed to the laureate by Željko Kosovac, director of the main branch of the company “Dunav Insurance” in Kraljevo. On behalf of the Administrator of the Žiča Diocese, His Eminence Metropolitan of Niš Arsenije, Father Ljubinko Kostić, retired protoiereus ‑stavrophore and deputy of the metropolitan, congratulated the laureate, assessing that Radojčić’s poetry captivates with the depth of its messages and sounds like a prayerful hymn to the Creator of the world.
At the end of the ceremony, the laureate himself addressed the audience with a speech entitled “What is a Poem?”. He approached that seemingly simple question both as poet and philosopher, reminding that the poem throughout history was first speech and oral recitation, and only later became written text.
Speaking about the difference between a poem that is heard and a poem that is read, he pointed out that the modern reader is accustomed not only to hear the poem but also to see it, reading it in silence and for himself. In this way, as he emphasized, part of its original strength and communal experience is lost, because the poem was once addressed to the community, while today it is often an intimate conversation of the soul with itself.
However, the poem, in his words, at the same time represents something more than speech and text. It arises within a certain language and carries within itself its tradition, even when it questions or opposes that tradition. The poem is also one of the ways by which man understands the world and himself in it.
In conclusion, Radojčić emphasized that the poem, although it can carry great and fundamental meanings, must remain within the limits of human measure, to be, above all, a poem. In it sound and meaning meet, and at the same time it is a space of freedom and quiet resistance. Precisely in the possibility of the poem to be accessible to all and to help man find his voice in the world, Radojčić recognized one of its most important values.
Anđelija Petrović
Editor of the Informative Program
Of Official Internet Presentation of the National Museum Kraljevo