MAP Announces 2026 Natural Poetic Treasure of the World, Artist of Nature Award Recipients

Mayor Tonin Marinaj

Honoring the Municipality of Malësi e Madhe, Albania, and Mayor Tonin Marinaj

Mayor Marinaj's example is especially meaningful at a time when communities across the world are being asked to reconsider their relationship with the living environment”

— The committee

RICHARDSON , TX, UNITED STATES, July 12, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Orpheus Texts Awards, administered by Mundus Artium Press at The University of Texas at Dallas, declared the Municipality of Malësi e Madhe, Albania, the 2026 Natural Poetic Treasure of the World and presented Mayor Tonin Marinaj with the Artist of Nature Award at a June 20 ceremony attended by over 60 ambassadors to Albania and other diplomats.

Overlooked by Malësi e Madhe’s mountains — stunningly beautiful and steeped in history and culture — the event featured the unveiling of a permanent stone monument honoring the area’s designation. As part of the ceremony, students from different grade levels recited epic poetry and performed local folk dances.

Each year, the dual Natural Poetic Treasure of the World and Artist of Nature recognition honors both a place of extraordinary natural and cultural significance and an individual whose leadership there has united environmental stewardship with artistic vision in the service of community.

The Artist of Nature Award was conveyed to Mayor Tonin Marinaj by Montenegro-based poet and conservationist Rodoljub Corić. Speaking as the prior award recipient and as a Mundus Artium Press board adviser, Corić congratulated the municipality and its people, expressing a wish that "Malësi e Madhe, and all our neighboring countries, continue to offer the world an example of art, peace, friendship, and shared cultural dignity."

Mayor Tonin Marinaj said, "This recognition belongs not only to me, but to the people of Malësi e Madhe—to our ancestors who shaped this landscape with their hands and their songs, and to the generations who will carry it forward. We accept this honor as both a celebration and a responsibility."

Attendees of the event included His Excellency Mr. Ravindra Prasad Jaiswal, Ambassador of the Republic of India to the Republic of Albania. Jaiswal said, "It is my first visit to Malësia e Madhe, and I am deeply impressed by its magnificent mountain landscapes, rich cultural heritage, and the warmth of its people. The region reminds me of India’s own Himalayan states like Himachal Pradesh, reflecting shared traditions, similar ways of living and a profound connection with and reverence for nature — among the elements that bind our two countries together. This recognition is truly well deserved."

Funded by Mundus Artium Press, the monument erected at the mountainous site features a bilingual Albanian-English inscription crested with a UT Dallas monogram. Commemorating the day of the ceremony in perpetuity, the inscription describes the municipality of Malësi e Madhe as a "place where the given beauty of nature and the beauty of human care, artistry, and reverence are united in living harmony for the inheritance of humankind."

The Orpheus Texts Selection Committee’s Natural Poetic Treasure of the World declaration emphasizes the importance of Malësi e Madhe’s designation: "It affirms that certain places speak to the imagination of humankind with unusual force. But such places also ask something of us. They ask to be protected, understood, and honored not as possessions, but as gifts entrusted across generations."

The Artist of Nature Award recognized Mayor Tonin Marinaj for what the committee called "a rare and necessary union: the union of environmental stewardship and artistic vision." The committee noted, "Mayor Marinaj's example is especially meaningful at a time when communities across the world are being asked to reconsider their relationship with the living environment."

Mundus Artium Press delegates including president Gjekë Marinaj and digital media coordinator Arben Çokaj attended the event.

The monument fulfills a dream of the late poet and UT Dallas professor emeritus Frederick Turner, who served as president of Mundus Artium Press and as an Orpheus Texts Selection Committee member. Turner fell in love with Malësi e Madhe while traveling in the area following his co-translation of Albanian oral poetry with Gjekë Marinaj, a writer with roots in the region.

The Orpheus Texts Awards celebrate exceptional achievements in global literature, the arts, and environmental stewardship. Previous Natural Poetic Treasure of the World honorees include Ha Long Bay in Vietnam, Seoul in South Korea, Cancún in Mexico, and the Poets' Valley in Montenegro.

A. Alvarez
Mundus Artium Press
+1 972-886-5050
email us here

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