No rush, Top Man; sometimes it's a long time before we can get back to this forum. (I must sound crochety today!) :-)

This group of writers (7 letters) organized to maintain the culture and customs of this popular part of a country. _ _ _ i _ _ _ _. A poet (8,7) was one of the main proponents of this movement.

Hi grandmere, is that 7 or 8 letters? You've 7 blanks + "i" in the 4th position?

I'm sorry-- 8 letters; "i" is the fourth letter.

I think my clue may be misleading: I'm looking for the name of the group and the poet.
(The name of the group is not derived from the name of the region, but this region is very popular with Fodorites. I thought if I gave region, it would be too easy.)

That's what I thought, but I've no idea. Google is not helping. :-(

Hint: the poet won a Nobel Prize in Literature, "a while back".

Is the poet Eugenio Montale?

oops -- withdrawn, not 8, 7. Could use a counting lesson. :-)

Maybe it's Frédéric Mistral & the group Félibrige?

No.

Francois Mauriac?
But can't figure out what group he belongs to.

I think that I'm going to bail on this one. I've some serious work to do. :-)

Yes, yk, you have it! We were posting at same time. I was thinking of Felibres, but Felibrige is same, just another letter.

Of course after I posted, I realized that Félibrige has 9 letters, so I thought I must be wrong too!

Now I have to think of a clue (I'm running out of ideas these days...)

What region is this? Too lazy to look it up.

(That was a fun clue.)

Provence; they wanted to maintain the customs and culture of it and to renew the Provencale language.

This bridge was built during the Ottoman empire in the 16th century. It was destroyed in a war in 1993. It has been rebuilt and reopened last week.

Bridge name:
_ _ a _ _ (5) _ _ _ _ (4)
City of the bridge:
_ _ _ _ a _ (6)
Country:
_ _ _ _ _ a - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ a (11)
Original architect of the bridge:
_ _ _ a _ (5) _ a _ _ _ _ _ _ (8)

Very easy clue if you have been reading the news lately, or if you have google! :)

I read the article, yk.

I'll come back to answer it if no one has tried in the next half hour. I do have other things to do. :-)

Stari Most HERZEGOVINA
Mostar
Bosnia
Mimar Hajrudin

Stari Most

Mostar

Bosnia-Herzegovina

Mimar Hajrudin

That's it Huitres.

For anyone who's interested in this piece of news:
NYT (registration required)with nice picture of bridge w/fireworks:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/24/in...pe/24bosn.html

BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3919047.stm

Your turn, Huitres!