Balkan authors join in ‘Literature in Flux’

TIRANA, March 8 – Two literary nights with public readings and discussions by Balkan authors and a movie screening was the Tirana stop of the Literature in Flux, a literary journey that creates a movement of stories from the Balkan region and Turkey and initiates a dialogue among authors of this region. The project organized by Berlin-based HALMA – European Network of Literary Centres, brought to Tirana this week Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Milo Jukić, Montengro’s Jovan Nikolaidis, and Turkey’s Mavisel Yener who joined Albania’s Fatos Kongoli and Arian Leka in poetry reading and discussions at the newly established National Theatre of Comedy in Tirana. The two-day programme in Tirana on March 6 and 7 also featured the Magic Eye movie at the Marubi Film school.
After opening in Croatia’s Split earlier this month, the project’s next stop will be in Turkey’s Izmir where Albanian renowned contemporary writer Fatos Kongoli is taking part in public readings and discussions on March 9 to 10.
Literature in Flux project facilitates an exchange about what connects and what separates the literature from a region where different cultures and identities intermingle.
In 2011 the journey started on a historical steam paddle boat along the Danube from Bulgaria to Austria. This year the flow of literature will continue along the Mediterranean coast.
“With the project Literature in Flux – via Mare we also want to look at the future of Europe. Are the common European project and its democratic values in danger in a time of economic crisis and nationalist movements? In the framework of Literature in Flux we will offer a platform for discussion on these topics and present new translations of literary works from the region,” organizers say.
The project is supported by the European Commission and held under the patronage of the Albanian and Croatian commissions for UNESCO.