The official opening of the conference commenced with speeches of greeting delivered by the president of the Macedonian P.E.N. Katica Kulavkova, the Secretary General of P.E.N. International, Mr. Terry Carlbom, and the president of the Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Kiro Gligorov. After the official opening of the conference, a round-table discussion ensued. The theme of round-table discussion of the 5 th Ohrid Regional P.E.N. Conference was Literature as Memory . In the course of the first session, ten presentations were delivered by foreign and domestic participants. The first official evening of the conference included various other interesting activities, including the presentation by Mr. Nikos Chausidis from the Department of History of Art, Faculty of Philosophy, Skopje University, of the first CD-rom produced by the firm EIN SOF, which, in a magnificent way, presents the cultural heritage and wealth of the Republic of Macedonia.
Poets read works in their original languages, followed by translations in English and French.
The reading was held in a very relaxed atmosphere, and it lasted into the late hours. Finally, participants found themselves joining in song. The next day of the conference saw the continuation of the round-table discussion on the theme Literature as Memory , at which twelve foreign and domestic participants presented their various and controversial views on the topic. 1. Anthology of Contemporary Bulgarian Poetry . The president of the Bulgarian P.E.N., Ms. Nevena Stefanova, contributed her words of gratitude and emphasized the importance of such reciprocal projects, especially given the history of the previous lack of literary exchange due to well known political circumstances, namely the non-recognition of the Macedonian language.