Albania host Balkan literary award

TIRANA, Dec. 2 – Ylljet Ali謡, a writer, scriptwriter and former Albanian ambassador to France, has been selected as Albania’s candidate for the Balkanika literary award which this year is being held in Albania. Ali謡 is competing along with six other authors from Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Turkey in the most important literary competition in the Balkans scheduled to be held in Tirana from Dec. 5 to 7.
Ali謡 is participating in the award with the “Valsi i Lumturise” (The Waltz of Hapiness) novel treating the story of the Popa family which in 1985 sought asylum at the Italian embassy in Tirana where it was housed for five years until managing to leave Albania in 1990 just before the collapse of the communist regime.
Ylljet Ali謡, 63, was born in Tirana, where he studied science. He is the author of three volumes of short stories: Tregime, Tirana & Elbasan 1997 (Short stories); Kompromisi, Tirana & Elbasan 2000 (The Compromise); and Parullat me gur묠Tirana 2003 (The Slogans in stone). Collections of his tales have also appeared in French as Les slogans de pierres, Castelnau-Le-Lez 1999 (The Slogans in stone) and in Polish as Kompromis, Sejny 2002 (The Compromise). His short story The Slogans in Stone, was filmed and awarded the Youth Prize at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival.