These days the Italian PEN Club (Poets, Essay writers, novelists), at a meeting in Milan which brought together creative writers from all over Italy, admitted as new members the well known Russian poet Evgjeni Jevtushenko and the Albanian poet Visar Zhiti. The current President of the Italian PEN Club, Poet and journalist on the biggest Italian newspaper, “Corrieria dela Serra” Sebastiano Grassi had perhaps deliberately chosen the same day on which to announce the membership of the Great Russian Poet and the Albanian poet, who has the pen name, “Prison Poet” Visar Zhiti. Both artists come from countries of the former communist bloc, the biggest and the smallest former members.
Who is the “Prison Poet”?
In the Eighties’ Albanian poet Visar Zhiti was thrown into prison. He toiled in the mines as a political prisoner, abandoned by his colleagues. He was prohibited from writing or publishing anything, however, as he has admitted in several interviews over the years, he worked at his poetry but in the greatest secrecy; committing lines to his memory. Only after the collapse of communism did he manage to have his works published; take part in different contests. Zhiti’s fame spread locally and internationally. In the Balkans, his work was translated into several languages and was sold in Europe and America and this process continues. Currently, Zhiti works at the Albanian embassy in Rome.
Where the two poets meet
Local critics link Visar Zhiti in the same moment with the case of Jevtushenko. In the Zhiti’s indictment (he was sentenced to ten years imprisonment for the poetry he wrote), the name of the Russian poet was also mentioned as a dangerous revisionist, as an enemy of the dictator Enver Hoxha and of his party. Jevtushenko has also written poetry against the Albanian Dictator Hoxha and Zhiti had also written poetry against Enver and he had whispered these lines to his close friends in prison. When a student, Zhiti had found some of the poetry written by Jevtushenko, he had translated these poems and it was for this reason that he was subjected to torture by the investigators. Another allegation against Zhiti was that he had read Jevtushenko’s book, “The Apple.” Later on Zhiti devoted the poem “The Forbidden Apple,”, composed in prison, to this shocking allegation. At the beginning of the nineties’, Jevtushenko and Visar Zhiti had a special meeting at which they spoke about the social and cultural developments in Albania, paintings, political prisoners. “I was the first Russian to visit your country after the collapse of communism, ” Jevtushenko said. “I had secretly translated some poems,” Zhiti said, ” which I managed to publish in the Opposition press.” They exchanged books. Zhiti gave Jevtushenko the volume of poems in Italian, “The Cross of Flesh” and Jevtushenko gave Zhiti the book, “In the land of ‘if only”.
