Albanian writer Ismail Kadare wins Spanish Asturias prize for literature

Published Wednesday June 24th, 2009

Ciaran Giles, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MADRID - Albanian writer Ismail Kadare was awarded Spain's Prince of Asturias literature prize on Wednesday in recognition of the social commitment in his work.

Describing him as one of the greatest authors in world literature, prize organizers said Kadare "represents the pinnacle of Albanian literature and, without forgetting his roots, has crossed frontiers to rise up as a universal voice against totalitarianism."

The 2009 award announced Wednesday is one of eight Asturias prizes bestowed each year in areas such as the arts, the sciences, international co-operation and communication.

Canadian Margaret Atwood won the 2008 Prince of Asturias prize for letters.

Kadare's writings first attracted attention during the years of Enver Hoxha's repressive communist regime. A novelist, essayist and poet, his work gained greater international fame after he was granted political asylum in France in 1990.

Born in 1936 in Gjirokaster, Albania, a southern city where Hoxha was also born, Kadare's most popular novels include "The General of the Dead Army, "The Palace of Dreams" The Concert."

A regular nominee for the Nobel literature prize, Kadare won the first International Booker award in 2005. His books have been translated into more than 40 languages.

As a boy, Kadare witnessed the Second World War and the occupation of his country by fascist Italy, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, until Hoxha established his dictatorship in 1944, the foundation said in a biographical note.

A noted scholar of Albanian traditions and the oddities of the Balkan state, his works are often set around historic events affecting his country such as the break between Albania and the former Soviet Union, Catholic and Orthodox rivalries and the split between Tirana and Beijing, it added.

Kadare lives in Paris although he is known to travel regularly to Albania.

The Asturias awards include a 50,000 euro cash stipend and a sculpture by artist Joan Miro. The prizes are named after Spain's Crown Prince Felipe, whose formal title is prince of Asturias, a region of northern Spain.

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Ismail Kadare To Receive Prince of Asturias Prize

Tirana | 23 October 2009 | Besar Likmeta

Albanian writer Ismail Kadare will receive Spain's highest literary honour, the Asturias prize, at a Friday ceremony in Oviedo.

“Using everyday language which is nonetheless full of lyricism, Ismaíl Kadare narrates the tragedy of his land, an incessant battleground; giving life to old myths through new words, he expresses all the grief and dramatic load of conscience,” the prize jury said in a statement following the announcement of the award.

“His commitment is rooted in the great literary tradition of the Hellenic world, which he projects onto the contemporary stage as an open condemnation of any form of totalitarianism and in defence of reason,” the statement added.

Kadare was born in 1936 in the southern town of Gjirokastra, near the Greek border. He first studied at the University of Tirana in Albania, and later at the Maxim Gorky Literature Institute in Moscow.

During half a century of Stalinist rule in Albania his works attacked totalitarianism and the doctrines of socialist realism with subtle allegories.

A perennial candidate for the Nobel Prize for literature, his novels and essays have been translated into more than 40 languages.

Shortly before the collapse of the communist regime in 1990, Kadare claimed political asylum in France, issuing statements in favour of the democratisation of Albania and an end to single-party rule.

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