Albania selected to participate in EU literature competition

TIRANA, Feb. 18 – For the first time,
Albania has been selected to participate in European Union Prize for Literature 2014, an event aimed at highlighting the creativity and diversity of contemporary European fiction and promote the publishing, translation and reading of books from other countries.
“Albania participates in various EU creative and cultural sub-programmes… and many talented Albanian artists, public institutions, cultural organizations and publishing houses are already benefiting from funding through these programmes or will benefit in the future,” said EU Ambassador to Albania Ettore Sequi during a launch ceremony at the EU info centre in Tirana.
A jury composed of publishers and writers has been set up to select the Albanian representative in the prize.
Petrit Ymeri, the head of the Albanian Association of Publishers who also chairs the jury, says this award will go to new talents. “This does not imply age but those Albanian authors who
have started writing in recent years and whose books have not been translated into more than four languages. The books that authors or publishing houses submit should be published at least in the past five years.
Albanian authors writing in foreign language and living abroad are excluded from participation.
Albania, Bulgaria, The Czech Republic, Greece, Iceland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Malta, Montenegro, Serbia, The Netherlands, Turkey and United Kingdom are the selected countries for 2014.
The prize is financed by the Culture Programme of the European Union whose objective is to achieve three main goals, which include promoting cross-border mobility of those working in the cultural sector, encouraging the transnational circulation of cultural and artistic output and fostering intercultural dialogue.