PRESENTED COLLECTION OF POET MARKO S. MARKOVIĆ'S SANDUČE

In the Treasury of the Serbian Orthodox Church of Kotor, near the temple of St. Nikola, yesterday the promotion of the poetry collection "Sanduče" by the poet Marko S. Marković from Gruža was organized.

In addition to the author, the publicist Đoko Račić spoke about the book, the verses were recited by Marta Borović, and on behalf of the host, Archpriest-Stavrophor Milenko Jekić greeted the present audience.

In the introductory letter about the collection of the poet Marković, this year's winner of Serbia's highest honor - the "Sretenjski state award", awarded to him for his exceptional contribution to the preservation of Serbian tradition, cultural identity and historical memory through literary creativity, publicist Đoko Račić points out that the collection of poems "Sanduče" "represents a quiet but powerful lyrical confession about man, time, events in it and memories that shape us".

"The very title of the work carries deep symbolism. The chest as a place where we keep the most precious things - memories, feelings, reminders, parts of the past that, although hidden, never lose their value.

This is exactly how the poet approaches his poetry as an opening of his inner experience and a space filled with images of life. Through the poems of this collection, motifs of childhood, family, homeland and wars, which, as an inexorable companion of our nation, have forever marked the poet's native spaces. The poet returns to the past, not in order to stay in it, but in order to better understand the present experientially and prepare for the future in time. Lirsko Marković's Box and in it the grandfather's will and bequests that the estate is a sacred property that cannot be sold.
His verses and our sung Serbian stubbornness also awakened in us, his readers, that the white world customer whom the poet, the Serbian, describes ironically and mockingly as "something white, scaly and freckled, it doesn't look like a human like yellow". United together in spite, we say together with our poet Marko Marković from Gruža below the Gledićka mountain that our houses and our ancestors are not for sale", Račić said.

The poet Marko S. Marković was born on January 26, 1986 in Kragujevac. His literature, according to many opinions, is not only art but a mission. With his verses, he restores the dignity of the Serbian village, the hearth and the legacy of the ancestors, while the poetry collection "Sanduce" reminds us not to forget or sell off our ancestors. He says that it is a great honor for him to present the collection in Kotor.

"Thank you for coming to meet me, to hear my poetry. Thank you to the organizers, thank you to Mr. Đok Račić, who described my creativity in an excellent way", said the poet at the beginning, thanking his friend Zdravko Kasalica for the great effort he put into promoting "Sandučet" in Montenegro.
Speaking about the inspiration for the song, after which the collection "Sanduče" is named, he talked about "a close relative from the neighboring village, who normally lives in the city, and wanted to sell his house". "By the way, that house of his is one of the most famous and oldest in that village, and before he called the buyer, he called me, because he knows that I like antiques, that I like antiques, he told me, "go into the house and take something if you need it, since we will sell it". the medal for bravery that our soldier can get in the Balkans or in the First World War... They were in a box made of imaline, as it says, there were shrapnel, there was a photograph of a funeral on the Thessaloniki front, where the former owner of that house buried his own brother there. I told him that I had found something in the house. knowing that it is old and that it was once princely house, rushed from Gornji Milanovac in 20 min. When I explained to him what all that was and how valuable it was, thank God he came to his senses, he did not sell the house, he saved it all, framed it, glazed it and now keeps it with great care and respect. Almost immediately, while he was looking around, I sat on the doorstep and wrote that poem under my breath," says Marković.

He points out that he is proud of being from the village because "the village is a strong source of everything noble, everything strong and everything that this nation can revive". "And that's why I can say with such a firm attitude that one class should really be introduced in the village, not even a class, but a seminar of a few months, for all children living in the city, because today there is a rare person of Serbian origin, who does not have at least one of his own houses in the countryside, and if he does not have a house, he has his great-grandfather's cemetery that needs to be cleaned.

Marko S. Marković is the author of the collections "Zlatovez" and "Grušanska rosary", as well as the historical-adventure novel "The Maiden's Curse". He is working on several more novels.
He lives and creates in Ljuljaci in Gruza, where he also works on a monograph of his village.
The "Sanduče" collection encouraged many to give up selling their age-old hearths.
Radio Kotor