For orders and inquiries: books@macedonianhistory.ca
Going, Going, Gone!
by Naeda B. Robinson & Maria Canavarro
205 pages © 2009
ISBN: 978-9989-2707-03 including CD - photos of whole collection with separate sections listed for all parts of the traditional ensembles.
Pub: International Art and Music Foundation, Vaduz, Lichtenstein
Price: $30 CAD/USD (softcover)
Naeda Robinson writes that she has lamented the disappearance of native dress in the many countries she has visited. It was only through the many visits to Macedonia that she came to realize how devastating it can be to the basic culture of a country. To read the stories about these precious clothes that were worn on special occasions, that were saved and survived war and migration of children away from the family village. This book covers the Bitola Region, with the words and photos of those who remember each and every precious garment. "See this grlo with its pulejki and monistra? It got me my Risto!"
by Lillian Petroff
154 pages © 2012 English translation
Price: $25 CAD/USD
In a period when validity of multiculturalism in current Canadian society has come under increasingly critical scrutiny, the study of the ethnic communities that contribute to the "Canadian mosaic" are still of great interest and value. Whatever one thinks of multiculturalism as part of the future national agenda, the study of how those communities originated and evolved is one of the most important of all Canadian historical inquiries. Filtered through the mind of a good historian, ethnic studies can tell us as much or more than any other investigation about the interplay of culture and context in Canada's past. In this excellent book on the "interior history of the Macedonians in Toronto," Lillian Petroff has made an outstanding contribution to this field by carefully examining complexities and nuances in this community's evolution from about 1900 to 1940.
by Harry Vjekoslav Herman, Ph.D.
paperback, 141 pages
ISBN 978-0-9810130-0-8
Price: $15 CAD/USD
Herman's documentation of the surprisingly high concentration of Macedonian immigrants in Toronto's restaurant industry appears at first to be a striking case in point. However, this micro-level study indicates instead that ethnicity does not have to be restrictive but can in fact be manipulated to secure both economic and social gains. The significance of Men in White Aprons lies not only in its revelations about ethnicity but also in the intimacy of its portrait of Toronto's Macedonian community. Including a brief history of the Macedonian people, a survey of the social and economic conditions in Canada at the time of their arrival, a description of family ties and responsibilities and a discussion of how the Macedonians adjusted to their new environment, the book is a valuable contribution to Macedonian ethno-history.
by Aleksandar Donski
paperback, 93 pages
ISBN: 0975733206
Price: $10 CAD/USD
Much as been written about the geneology of Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom. However, the vast majority of authors hve treated the question of the Queen's geneology by emphasizing almost exclusively her British family ties. Some uthors have even ventured into the distant past and claimed to trace Her Majesty's roots to the biblical King David, though failing to offer valid proof for this claim. In this book, we will offer specific evidence of Queen Elizabeth's thus far little-known genealogical lineage, stretching back to the medieval Macedonian Czar Samuel and his dynasty that ruled in the 10th and 11th centures A.D. Before presenting the vidence of this genealogical connection, we offer some explanations about the Science of genealogy in general, and about Czar Samuel himself, his land and people.
Out of Stock!
Macedonian Agenda is the leading reference book about one of Australia's oldest and largest ethnic groups. The book explores a number of major themes including: Political issues between Macedonian and its Balkan neighbours
• Macedonian history and settlement in Australia
• The development of Macedonian values, language, religion and - theatre in Australia
• The changing role of Macedonian women
• The welfare needs of older migrants
• The Macedonian identity including the 'Greek' Macedonian -- identity
• The lack of human rights in Aegean Macedonia
The book contains contributions from 14 writers.
Order from: www.pollitecon.com
by Aleksandar Donski, translated by Marijan Galevski and Michael Seraphinoff
paperback, 240 pages, (204 mm x 145 mm - includes contents and bibliography)
edited by Dr. Michael Seraphinoff
published by the Macedonian Literary Association - "Grigor Prlichev" - Shtip/Sydney, 2004
ISBN 0958116253
Price: $18 CAD/USD
The arguments and evidence that today's Macedonians are the descendants of the ancient Macedonians - Part One - Folklore Elements
Only ONE Copy Left!!!
by Milcho Manchevski
paperback, 311 pages, (190 mm x 120 mm - includes contents and bibliography)
edited by Dr. Michael Seraphinoff
published by the Publishing House "Slovo", Skopje, 1995 (in English and Macedonian)
ISBN 998996288X
Price: $18 CAD/USD
by Mihailo Keramidchiev
paperback, 56 pages, (216 mm x 155 mm - includes contents)
published by Bran Graphics, Inc - Mark Branov, 1995
ISBN 09680226-0-X
Price: $6 CAD/USD
In the winds of war, Mihailo Keramidchiev was a leader of the national and social liberation of the Macedonian people. He lead a revolutionary fight for justice, freedom, unity and human dignity. He was able to communicate the collective historical experience of great suffering and hardship, onto a series of deeply moving poems. In his poems, Keramidchiev shows us both the pain of our collective heritage and how to heal it. He asks us to remember our history, our hardship, our joy, and our social responsibilities.
by Scott Taylor
208 pages © 2010 English
Pub: Esprit de Corps Books
ISBN 1-895896-20-7
Price: $20 CAD/USD
The June 1999 entry of NATO troops was hailed as the "Liberation of Kosovo" Identity by the western media - most of who promptly packed it up and headed home from the Balkans.
The declaration of victory was naive and premature given the Alliance's stated objectives of deposing Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and creating a safe, multi-ethnic environment in Kosovo.
Rather than ending the civil strife, NATO's intervention set in motion a series of events which would have violent repercussions through Serbia, Kosovo and especially Macedonia over the next two years.
This book, consisting primarily of Taylor's first-hand observations and interviews with the people and players, is a very personal account of the war, and its aftermath in Serbia and Macedonia.
by Thammy Evans
344 pages Paperback ISBN 139871841622972
Price: $27 CAD/USD
Even in the 21st century, Macedonia is a story untold. Remote, land-locked and little visited. It's a place practically untouched by tourist trappings, signposts and explanations. Yet this country, once the southernmost part of Yugoslavia, has a simple natural beauty that its European neighbours find hard to match. The Bradt guide is the only English-language to Macedonia. This 3rd edition includes new material on battlefields and historical figures, as well as updated information on outdoor pursuits, folk festivals, wine, archaeology - and, of course, Macedonia's fast-improving hotels, restaurants and bars.
by Krste Savevski, Editro-in-chief
564 pages ISBN 978998263132
Price: $100 CAD/USD (hardcover)
A coffee table book with over 560 pages about the various tourist areas and regions in Macedonia. Every region is presented with its geographical tourist values, cartographical and geographical contents of the region, including 4-colour photographs of the various mountains, valleys, rivers, lakes, springs, spas, archaeological sites, towers and fortresses, etc. The content includes photo illustrations, therefore a reader has an opportunity to not only read about the various areas, but also visually get acquainted with the treasures and beauty of Macedonia, including its tourist potential and cultural historical landmarks.
by Anastas S. Odzaklieski
HC ring bound 80 Pages English/Macedonian/Croation
Price: $25 CAD/USD
Macedonia has been growing various high-quality fruits, vegetables and spices in the fertile soil of the country, particularly in the regions of Pelagonija, Polog, Tikves, Skopsko polje, etc. making the ingredients from this part of the world the best for the preparation of a number of savory dishes. These are typical Macedonian recipes, produced in 3 languages with lush 4-colour photographs with a convenient large ring binding which makes it easy to prop up while cooking. There are Appetizers & salads, main dishes, and sweets. All in easy-to-read English, Macedonian and Croatian.
by Luan Starova, translated by Christina E. Kramer
154 pages © 2012 English translation
Price: $25 CAD/USD
(The Time of the Goats & My Father's Books -- both for $45 + shipping)
This novel is set in the late 1940’s in Skopje, Yugoslavia, the critical year leading to Tito’s break with Stalin. Pushed to leave mountain villages to become the new proletariat in urban factories, a flood of peasants crowds into Skopje—and with them—their goats. Suffering from hunger, Skopje’s citizens welcome the newcomers. But municipal eaders are faced with a dilemma when the central government issues an order calling for the slaughter of the country’s goat population. With food scarce, will they hide the animals, or comply?
“Combining art and memoir, The Time of the Goats shows the Balkans in all their beautiful complexity. The novel weaves together the personal, political, ethnic, national, and at times, international, in ways that speak both to the little-known realities of the early postwar Yugoslav experience and the human condition…” Victor A. Friedman, U of Chicago.
by Luan Starova, translated by Christina E. Kramer
197 pages © 2012 English translation
Price: $25 CAD/USD
(My Father's Books & The Time of the Goats -- both for $45 + shipping)
This is the first in Starova's multivolume Balkan saga, which explores themes of history, displacement and identity under three turbulent regimes - Ottoman, Fascist and Stalinist - all in the 20th Century. Weaving a story from the threads of his parent's lives from 1926 to 1976, he offers a child's-eye view of personal relationships in a shifting political landscape.
by Goce Smilevski, translated by Christina E. Kramer
262 pages © 2012 English translation
Price: $17 CAD/USD
(only a few copies left)
Winner of the European Union Prize for Literature (2010), this is a novel about Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis and his decision not to include his four sister on the exit list granted to him by the Nazis in 1938. The sisters were eventually shuttled off to Terezin concentration camp and killed, while their brother lives out his last days in London. Based on these facts, this searing novel gives a haunting voice to his youngest sister, Adolfina - "the sweetest and best of my sisters" - a gifted, sensitive woman who was spurned by her mother, and never married. She was witness to her brother's genius and to the cultural and artistic splendor of Vienna in the early 20th Century.
by Loring M. Danforth & Riki Van Boeschoten
352 pages © 2012 English
ISBN: 9780226 135991
Price: $30 CAD/USD
(including Canada postage)
At the height of the Greek Civil war in 1948, 38,000 children were evacuated from their homes in the mountains of northern Greece. The Greek Communist Party relocated half of them to institutions in Eastern Europe, while the national government placed the rest in children's homes elsewhere in Greece. A point of contention during the Cold War, this controversial episode continues to fuel tensions between Greeks and Macedonians and within Greek society itself. The authors for the first time have written a comprehensive study of the two evacuation programs and the lives of the children they forever transformed.
by Scott Taylor
176 pages © 2010 English
ISBN: 9781895 896381
Price: $20 CAD/USD
During the past century, there have been two major clashes in the Anatolia-Caucasus region. Both resulted in the widespread slaughter and forced expulsion of innocent civilians from all sides. The first was during the Great War (WWI) caused by the collapse of both the Ottoman Empire and czarist Russia: the second erupted between 1988-1994. What these two conflicts also share is that few in the West have observed, chronicled or been able to fully understand the complexity of the situation. Those existing accounts are rife with partisan propaganda. It is important to peel away the rhetoric and get to the core.
Scott Taylor has not only visited all three regions, but also gives us a history which is essential in understanding this region and its divergent assessments. There are always two and even three sides to every conflict and this book gives the reader a better understanding of what happened and is likely to continue happening in this region. These unreconciled differences of shared history continue to negatively impact the lives of the Turks, Armenians and Azeris in the present and prevent them from progressing towards a peaceful and mutually beneficial co-existence in the future.
Scott Taylor has written eight books to date, who as a journalist has gone where many do not venture. Diary of an UnCivil War was one of his books, which gave us a view of what happened to Macedonia during the Kosovo conflict.
It is amazing that many of the events parallel what has happened in Macedonia and the region in some ways.
by Marko Tsepenkov, translated by Michael Seraphinoff
Price: $7 CAD/USD (softcover)
The folklore collector and tailor from the Macedonian town of Prilep, Marko Tsepenkov (1829-1920) heard this tale from one of his visitors sometime in the mid-19th C. the tale of Silyan the stork is probably the best-known and the longest of all Macedonian folk tales. It tells the story of a young man, Silyan, who is transformed into a stork after a series of misadventures. During his life as a stork, he observes his family from a perch on the roof of their home and learns some important lessons about the value of family.
by Petre M. Andreevski, translated by Will Firth & Mirjana Simjanovska
paperback, 288 pages
ISBN 978-0-9804763-2-3
Price: $29 CAD/USD
Pirey, by Macedonian poet, novelist and playwright Petre M. Andreevski, is one of the most celebrated novels of modern Macedonian literature. Set during the Balkan Wars, WWI and years soon after, the story follows the major political shifts in the Balkans at the end of the Ottoman Empire and their catastrophic impact on a Macedonian village and a married couple, Ion and Velika.
While Ion is in the army, Velika struggles as she watches her children and village ravaged by war. In one famous scene, Ion, conscripted into the Serbian army, and his brother conscripted into the Bulgarian army, comes face to face one night on the battlefield.
This book is famous for its depiction of life around the time of the division of Macedonia, its characterizations and its use of language and historical setting.
The author, Petre M. Andreevski, has won numerous awards for his works, many of which have been translated into other languages. Pirey was his most famous novel and is the first translation of Pirey into English.
by Scott Taylor
© 2009
ISBN: 978-1-55365-2922
Price: $30 CAD/USD (hardcover)
You may remember Scott Taylor from his book Diary of the Uncivil War: the Violent Aftermath of the Kosovo Conflict, which covered the conflict in Macedonia during the Kosovo conflict. Taylor is a former infantryman in the Canadian military and has been the editor-publisher of Esprit de Corps magazine since 1988. Scott has reported from numerous global hot spots, including Kuwait, Cambodia, Western Sahara, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. His capture by the Iraqi mujahedeen became a life-changing (and could have been life-ending) event. Taylor is a war correspondent who takes us beyond the headlines and to the front lines of the major conflicts that have shaken the world since the end of the Cold War - and that continue to do so today. He has been called "hero" by some and "scourge of the generals" by others. He insisted on writing "to be continued" at the end of this book. This is a good thing. But can you ever give credence to the news reports after reading this book?
by Pandora Petrovska
paperback, 113 pages, 28 Photographs & Docs
ISBN 978 0 9804763 16
Price: $21 CAD/USD
This is a love story about Stefo and Lena from the Macedonian village of Trna in Aegean Macedonia, but it could be anyone's story who lived through those times. Married during the early days of WWII, Stefo is conscripted into the Greek army and later becomes a partisan. It is the story of a family torn apart through no fault of their own, and how they manage to put the pieces together. It is a powerful oral history about war, migration, Macedonian village life in the early and mid 20th C and the importance of family. It is well told and easy to read by the author of Children of the Bird Goddess.
by Dr Nick Anastasovski
paperback, 520 pages
large format 245 mm high x 170 mm wide
ISBN 978-0-9804763-0-9
Price: $45 CAD/USD (+ $13 postage)
The Contest for Macedonian Identity 1870-1912 is a scholarly book detailing the ongoing campaigns to divide and conquer the Macedonian people - first by the Ottoman Empire under which Macedonia was colonized by Muslims and many Macedonians converted to Islam; and then by Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria as they fought to turn Macedonians into Greeks, Serbs and Bulgarians using State-sponsored teachers, priests, bandits and terrorists.
The Contest for Macedonian Identity examines in detail this fierce competition, and how it was fought at the political, religious, educational, and day-to-day village level. It analyzes Ottoman, Greek, Bulgarian, Serbian, Macedonian and other sources and introduces new and original research by the author from the Bitola region, western Macedonia, and many other parts of ethnic and Ottoman Macedonia. This is a definitive work on the occupation of Macedonia in the modern era and the development and defence of the Macedonian identity. This text is a big, generous book, well researched and easy to read.
Out of Stock!
Editor: Zoran Coseski
Pub: Perth, Western Australia, © 1993
Price: $9 CAD/USD
The Abecedar Primer was first published in 1925 and prepared pursuant to Greece's obligations under the Treaties of Neuilly & Sevres (1920) to protect the rights of its Macedonian national minority. The text is written in Roman letters rather than Cyrillic. However, this Primer was never distributed and never reached Macedonian children, despite the Greek press' awareness and publicity. The internal pressure not to distribute this primer came from Serbian and Bulgarian governments who feared that similar actions would be demanded for their own Macedonian nationals.
As a historical document, this re-published text bears witness to the struggle that Macedonians have had regarding their recognition of their human rights, whether in Greece or wherever there is a question about their right to speak, read, and write in their own language.
by Lefa Ognenova-Michova & Kathleen Mitsou-Lazaridis
paperback, 112 pages (cello glazed cover)
ISBN 978-0-9586789-9-5
Price: $20 CAD/USD
This is the story of Lefa Ognenova, a girl born in the picturesque mountain village of Neret in Aegean Macedonia. The first book published about Neret, tells about Lefa's childhood in the village and how she, along with thousands of other Macedonian children, was evacuated during the Macedonian War of Independence in Aegean Macedonia, that was part of the Greek Civil War. Lefa became a child refugee and grew up far from her family in Hungary, and finally re-joined her parents in Australia, where she was able to build a new life.
by Ronald Holloway
Pb: 62 pages
Price: $5 CAD/USD
A booklet which gives the history of Macedonian film from the Manaki Brothers and their purchase of the Camera 300 moving picture camera to the feature films of 1996. Well written and a must for anyone interested in the why and wherefore of the film industry in Macedonia.
translated and illustrated by Michael Seraphinoff
Pb: 31 pages
ISBN: 097733230
Price: $10 CAD/USD
The stories in this book are great old stories from the oral folk tradition of the ancient land of Macedonia. They are meant to make us laugh and to make us think. They are fun to share with both young and old. The authors of this collection of stories are unknown Macedonian storytellers, however the translator and illustrator, Seraphinoff, is a scholar with degrees in anthropology and an M.A. in Slavic linguistics. In addition to this latest publication, Seraphinoff has written a serious dissertation, translated The Legend of Kalesh Andja and the novel Macedonian Gold.
by Stale Popov, translated by Michael Seraphinoff
paperback, 200 pages
ISBN 0 9757332 1 4
Price: $15 CAD/USD
The author Stale Popov was born in a small, isolated mountain village of Macedonia in the final, turbulent decades of the Turkish Empire. From this background he is able to write a story for us in a voice of the traditional village storyteller that takes us on a journey into the heart and soul of the medieval Turkish Empire in Europe. His story of the brave peasant girl Andja is based on an old legend and a documented peasant rebellion against Turkish rule in the year 1565 in the Mariovo region of Macedonia. Popov offers us a window into a world and a way of life that is foreign to us today. And yet, The Legend of Kalesh Andja's story of a struggle for freedom and justice, from far away and long ago, can still move readers, both young and old.
published by the Ladies Auxiliary "Mara Buneva"
paperback, 119 pages
Price: $22 CAD/USD
A complete collection of recipes for beginner and gourmet alike.
by Zhivko Chingo, translated by Elizabeth Kolupacev Stewart
paperback, 120 pages (four colour celloglazed cover)
published by Pollitecon Publications 2004
ISBN 0 9586789 6 0
Price: $18 CAD/USD
Set in Macedonia immediately after World War 2, The Big Water tells the story of a group of children orphaned by the war and their life in an orphanage. Full of characters and incidents, the book presents a child's view of life that is both humorous and bleak and, by its end, very moving.
by Macedonian Welfare Workers' Network of Victoria
paperback (c) 1999 (includes 30 photos & illustrations)
ISBN 0958678928
Price: $18 CAD/USD
A book of recollections and reflections from some of the 28,000 Macedonian child refugees who were evacuated from their homes in northern Greece between 1948 and 1949 during the Macedonian struggle for independence in the Greek Civil War.
Five of the oral histories are from child refugees, the sixth from the mother of one of the children. The six individuals are from the villages of Bapchor, Lagen, Neret & Krushoradi. All are now Australian residents. Each story is made all the more moving by the fact that the refugees were only children.
The stories tell of village life before the war, destruction wrought by Greek soldiers and their American and British allies, separation from parents and family, the journey to Eastern Europe, growing up in foreign lands, and their eventual arrival in Australia. The refugees, now in their 50s and 60s, use their growing maturity and insight to understand the events and experiences that changed the lives of all Macedonians from northern Greece.
(Jim Thomev was the translator and editor of all the oral histories in this book)
by Kita Sapurma and Pandora Petrovska, (c) 1997
paperback, 168 pages (210 mm x 148 mm - four colour celloglazed cover)
ISBN 09586789 1X
Price: $29 CAD/USD
Children of the Bird Goddess, a Macedonian autobiography of Kita Sapurma is an oral history that spans over 100 years and explores the lives of four generations of Macedonian women from Aegean Macedonia (northern Greece).
Commencing in the 19th Century when Macedonia was under the Ottoman Empire, the family's story is interwoven with the upheavals of the Balkan Wars, Greek takeover and colonization of half of Macedonia, two World Wars, and the Macedonian struggle for independence during the Greek Civil War. Amid this historical turbulence, the book is a detailed portrayal of Macedonian village life and culture as practised over centuries.. It offers a personal account of Macedonian women's culture, giving a woman's perspective on Macedonian lifestyle, and many of the most important Macedonian customs and rituals passed down from mother to daughter through the generations.
The story is also a moving account of political and cultural oppression and the tragic effects on the family's lives and fortunes. This legacy becomes an integral part of Australia's history as the family, eventually flees Greece and must manage the joys and difficulties of setting up in a new land.
This is one of the first autobiographies in English of a woman from Aegean Macedonia, Children of the Bird Goddess. Its telling is about breaking the silence and invisibility of Macedonian women.
by Association of Macedonians in Poland, (c) 1992
paperback, 68 pages (250 mm x 175 mm - celloglazed cover)
ISBN 0 64612211 8
Price: $15 CAD/USD
What Europe Has Forgotten examines official discrimination against the Macedonian minority of northern Greece, and the struggle for human rights, particularly by the more than 28,000 ethnic Macedonian child refugees evacuated in 1948 during the Greek Civil War.
The report contains 28 photographs and 26 pages of letters, certificates and documentary evidence.
The book outlines the obligations to fully protect the Macedonian national minority assumed by Greece when it annexed Aegean Macedonia early this century. This was to include full civic and political rights. However, instead, the Greek authorities instigated policies aimed at assimilation, displacement and ethnic cleansing.
by Alex K. Gigeroff, (c) 1994
soft cover 31 pp
ISBN 0-921369-14-X
Price: $15 CAD/USD
This book is based on the very first song the author learned to sing, as a child. The Society of Folk Dance Historians, Austin, Texas, says, "You will not read this book quickly. You will remember your grandparents... This tale of generations haunts those with sufficient life experience to appreciate tradition and family. I suggest that you buy this for yourself, and then leave it as a legacy to your grandchildren."
by Tashko Georgievski, translated by Elizabeth Kolupacev Stewart, (c) 1994
paperback, 113 pages (210 mm x 148 mm - celloglazed cover)
ISBN 0 9586789 01
Price: $18 CAD/USD
Black Seed is one of the great political and humanistic novels of contemporary Macedonian literature. It is one of the few books that examines life in the Greek prison camps during the Greek Civil War, providing a rare insight into a period when the State sponsored persecution of political dissidents and ethnic minorities, particularly Macedonians, was at its most intense.
Written in a direct and succinct style, Black Seed is a story of courage, compassion and truth which is universal in meaning. It was made into a successful film, and has been translated into a number of European languages.
Tashko Georgievski is one of Macedonia's leading contemporary authors. The book concludes with an article on Georgievski by Mateja Matevski, who discusses the theme of "returning", common in Georgievski's books.
by Kathy Dimitrievski, PhD
Price: $29 CAD/USD (additional postage may be applicable, depending on destination)
Like many cultures, oral history plays an important and vital role in Macedonia. In the past they did not have the opportunity to write their own history, and create a literary tradition. Songs and poetry, which were easy to remember, expressed the joys and sorrows of their existence, current events, the passing of famous and ordinary people, laughter and local customs. People passed on songs in full voice in the fields or whispered melodies as men and women gathered around the fire at night.
Her research includes the Diaspora of Canada and the United States, Pirin and Mala Prespa. The interviewees from Aegean Macedonia were interviewed in the Diaspora and Bitola. The many interviews and stories told, along with the words to the songs, provide a very interesting view of Macedonian history. Dr. Dimitrievski included exclusive interviews with folk singers Sarievski, Tomovska, Kostadinova and Ilieva, along with a comprehensive analysis of Macedonian folk songs.
by Marko Cepenkov
pub. by Macquarrie University (c) 1991, tpb 27l pp
ISBN 0 858377454
Price: $30 CAD/USD
Marko Cepenkov (1829-1920) dedicated his whole life to collecting and preserving for posterity, the enormous wealth of Macedonian folk literature. The literature embodies the deepest layers of the Macedonian collective consciousness, wisdom and philosophy of the life of an area at the crossroads of cultures, civilizations, peoples and languages.
Cepenkov collected in his lifetime more than 800 tales, 710 songs, 5,032 folk proverbs, etc. His collection spanned games, pledges, curses, blessings, folk traditions, customs descriptions of crafts and musical instruments, personal names and surnames.
This selection of folktales, translated by Fay Thomev, is the first extensive presentation of Cepenkov's work in English.
Only ONE Copy Left!!!
Jim Thomev
(bilingual edition)
Price: $8 CAD/USD
Thomev's poetry touches your heart. Read the poems aloud and you can smell the countryside in Macedonia, taste the bitter defeat when liberty is denied, feel the sorrow of leaving the homeland by the émigrés and see the shepherds in the hills and valleys.
Thomev immigrated to Australia in 1954 from K'basnitsa, in Aegean Macedonia along with his mother and siblings. He is a graduate of Melbourne University, and has taught for a number of years. He has also written dramas, which have been performed by the Macedonian drama group in Melbourne. From 1987-90 he was editor-in-chief of the Australian Macedonian Weekly
by Michael Seraphinoff
Price: $15 CAD/USD
"What if" is the beginning of the creative process as there is a degree of possibility, no matter how miniscule. Seraphinoff's book is fiction, though based on a historical certainty: The tomb of Alexander the Great has never been discovered. But suppose an archeological dig discovered it in Macedonia, and not Greece? An anthropologist from an American university joins forces with a Macedonian team to delve into the discovery. Seraphinoff embellishes the storyline with authentic details about Macedonian culture. The reader is carried along with the plot while getting a healthy dose of history for this part of the Balkans.
Mysterious and ancient cults, a strange language spoken by a particular segment of the population make this a fascinating story. The history is easily digested as familiar surroundings in Macedonia are mentioned. And even if you know nothing about Macedonia and its history, and just love a good mystery, you will enjoy this novel.
Only 4 Copies Left!!!
by Jim Thomev
Price: $12 CAD/USD
You have always wanted to record all the Macedonian sayings your mom or dad, baba or dedo threw at you--when the occasion for an appropriate piece of wisdom presented itself--but you have never had the time. Jim Thomev recorded and translated 1000 sayings. The sayings are from ordinary people that have repeated these words of wisdom, beliefs and situations. They have endured the test of time. It is a book that you pick up and open a page, and say, "I remember something that ..." The fun part might be you trying to translate them back into Macedonian!
Because Thomev was born in K'basnitsa,, his knowledge of the Macedonian language in Aegean Macedonia informs his translation and selection. He has also included a number of Macedonian fables. He acknowledges and lauds the work of Verkovich, Shapkarev and the greatest collector of folklore, Tsepenkov. This is a neat little text to add to your library.
by Olga Lexovska Naumoff
Splendid Associates, Dearborne, (c) 2003
355 pages (soft cover)
ISBN 0-941983-03-X
Price: $26 CAD/USD
"Remember your name, Sote. Remember who you are and where you came from!" said Dedo Vasil Nitchov.
This memoir transports you to a time and place, a people and a culture, that few really know or have cared about. As one of the 30,000 Macedonian children, from two to fourteen years of age, Sotir became one of the Detsa Begaltsi, evacuated by the Partisans to countries that opened their doors to them, where the sounds of war would no longer be heard. The parents placed their trust in the Partisans, rather than the Greeks. This is a true, must-read story. It is one that will evoke happy, carefree memories of the child in all of us. It may remind you of life in the village, before and after the war interrupted the idyllic life. Sotir will make you laugh at his antics, cry and remember, learn and give thanks for the human spirit that survives.