Brikena SMAJLI
Biography Poetry Brikena SMAJLI Brikena Smajli (b. 1970), was born and raised in Shkodra where she currently lives. She is a fine representative of a new generation of female writers in Albania. Smajli is the author of the following poetry volumes: Të fundit vdesin ulkonjat (The She-Wolves Die Last), Shkodra 1997; and Përditë ndërtoj shtëpi me ashkla (Every […]
Frederik RRESHPJA
Biography Poetry Frederik RRESHPJA Frederik Rreshpja (1940-2006), also spelled Reshpja, was born in Shkodra where he attended school. He later studied law at the University of Tirana. Rreshpja was early to devote himself to literature, his first verse being published when he was nine years old. He was the author of verse for adults […]
Arshi PIPA
Biography Poetry Arshi PIPA Writer and scholar, Arshi Pipa (1920-1997) was born in Shkodra where he attended school until 1938. His first poetry, composed in the late 1930s in Shkodra, was collected in the volume Lundërtarë, Tirana 1944 (Sailors). Pipa studied philosophy at the University of Florence, where he received the degree of “dottore in […]
Besnik MUSTAFAJ
Biography Poetry Besnik MUSTAFAJ Besnik Mustafaj (b. 1958) was born in Bajram Curri, in the Tropoja region of the northern Albanian mountains. He studied French at the University of Tirana and, after the collapse of the communist dictatorship, was seconded as Albanian Ambassador to France. Active not only as a writer, but also in […]
Songs of the Frontier Warriors
Introduction 1. Mujo’s Strength 2. Marriage of Mujo 3. Mujo’s Oras 4. Mujo Visits the Sultan 5. Marriage of Halili 6. Gjergj Elez Alia 7. Mujo and Behuri 8. Mujo’s Courser 9. Young Omeri 10. Zuku Bajraktar 11. Osmani and Radoica 12. Ali Bajraktari 13. Arnaut Osmani 14. Zuku Captures Rusha 15. Mujo’s Wife Kidnapped […]
Jamarber MARKO
Biography Poetry Jamarber MARKO Jamarber Marko (1951-) was born in Tirana, son of the noted prose writer Petro Marko and his wife, the painter Safo Marko. He finished his studies of journalism in 1974 and began writing verse, though he was not allowed to publish during the Communist regime. Marko spent seven years of […]
Jeronim DE RADA
Biography Poetry Jeronim DE RADA Girolamo De Rada (1814-1903), known in Albanian as Jeronim De Rada, is not only the best known writer of Italo-Albanian literature but also the foremost figure of the Albanian nationalist movement in nineteenth-century Italy. Born the son of a parish priest of Greek rite in Macchia Albanese (Alb. Maqi) in the mountains […]
Isuf LUZAJ
Biography Poetry Isuf LUZAJ Isuf Luzaj (1913-2000) was born in Kanina near Vlora and went to school in Shkodra. He studied at the Sorbonne in Paris from 1933-1935. Forced to interrupt his education, he returned to Albania and worked as a French teacher in Elbasan, Korça and Vlora. From 1940 to 1941 he was […]
Luljeta LLESHANAKU
Biography Poetry Luljeta LLESHANAKU Luljeta Lleshanaku (b. 1968) was born in Elbasan and is the author of four poetry collections. She was educated in literature at the University of Tirana and was editor-in-chief of the weekly magazine Zëri i rinisë (The voice of youth). She then worked for the literary newspaper Drita. In 1996, she received the […]
Natasha LAKO
Biography Poetry Natasha LAKO Natasha Lako (b. 1948), poet and novelist from Korça, is a representative of the first generation of women writers in Albania. She has published the following volumes of poetry: Marsi brenda nesh, Tirana 1972 (March within us); E para fjalë e botës, Tirana 1979 (The world’s first word); Këmisha e pranverës, Prishtina 1984 (The spring shirt); Yllësia […]