The 89th anniversary of the birth of the prominent Albanian writer, Ismail Kadare, was marked today in Gjirokastra. Unlike other anniversaries, January 28 of this year is the first without Kadare, who passed away in July of last year. Friends of the writer highly appreciate his figure, while in the house of his birth, turned into a museum, hundreds of visitors come to experience Kadare's life and his literary works up close.
A stream of people is flowing into the birthplace of the prominent writer Ismail Kadare in Gjirokastra today. The 89th anniversary of his birth this year is the first without Ismail Kadare, who passed away in July last year.
"Ismail seems to be present and time is showing that for him there is no death," says Thanas Dino, one of the writer's friends.
"At that time, Ismail was present in all our conversations. We talked about him as if he were in this life, as if he had not fallen asleep in this life. Gjirokastra is a city that preserves man as if in stone, a little cold but safe. As time has shown, he is a man who has no death."
The authority that Kadare created, says Mr. Dino, is similar to the institution of the state and the nation. He particularly appreciates his contribution to Kosovo and his support for the European aspiration of Albanians.
"The authority that Ismail Kadare created was a kind of institution similar to the institution of the state and the nation. It is enough to remember his great efforts on the issue of Kosovo or his orientation to turn his people into the European wing by covering up and overlooking the historical prejudices that occurred over this country."
Mr. Dino says that Ismail Kadare's work, although it is the work of a great writer, is not complicated, but rather simple for readers.
"We can say this about his creative work that although he is a great writer, he is not a difficult writer, as has happened with some great writers of the world. On the contrary, he is an easy writer, because he has a very transmissible, very ivory language and his political or ideological subtexts that he wanted to convey are understandable to the reader."
Kadare himself has done a great service to his literary work by explaining it from time to time, says Mr. Dino.
"Ismaili, as if he felt this, is a writer who has equipped his work with its commentary. He has left his works in the field of essays or tests, interviews and numerous notes that are the best explainer of his work"
Kadare's birthplace, turned into a museum, is one of the most visited objects in the historic city protected by UNESCO.
Many connoisseurs of the writer's work come to the house and read pages from his work, says guide Bruno Pjetri.
"Visitors are mostly familiar with the writer's works and seek to learn more by looking closely at what he has described, especially in the novel "Chronicle in Stone," says Mr. Pjetri.
"Mostly, visitors want to touch up close those original objects that the writer mentioned in the novel "Chronicle in Stone". They want to see up close where the genius of Albanian letters was born, they want to see up close the water well, they want to "speak" to it as the scribe "spoke" to it in his childhood, which he describes in the book "Chronicle in Stone", they want to see the prison house, the shelter due to the bombings..."
Gjirokastra was accustomed to marking Kadare's birthdays by combining congratulations with readings of his work.
Now that Kadare is no longer alive, both young and old in his stony city express their heartfelt gratitude for the great Albanian writer and the precious creativity he left behind. VOA (A2 Televizion)
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MUND TE LEXONI GJITHASHTU
