The International Book Day in Tirana

Tirana celebrated the International Book Day (23.04.2009) with a series of cultural events. The National Library of Albania, the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sports, the Philological Faculty of Tirana, were all host-places for conferences, lectures and exhibitions, bringing literature anew to the immediate public attention.
Numerous activities were held on this occasion and their diversity was amplified as the International Book Day corresponds with other literary landmark anniversaries. The National Library organized a conference on the Italian renowned journalist Indro Montanelli, on the hundredth anniversary of his birthday.
Montanelli, who has impregnated contemporary Italian society with a long record of over 70 years of writing and activity and almost 5000 published articles, visited Albania three times at the end of the 30ies. These visits provided him literary material for his book Albania, una e mille (Albania, one and a thousand) that was presented in its Albanian translation by Aurel Plasari.
On the International Book Day an exhibition to the honor of the renowned Albanian poet Lasgush Pogradeci opened at the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sports bringing not only memories of the poet but also unknown drawings from the lyrical poet. This exhibition starts the Lasgush Pogradeci honorary year.
The International Book Day also corresponds with the death anniversary of Miguel Cervantes and is also celebrated in many countries as the Day of Spanish Literature, to which Albania joined recently. For the second time, a short story from an Albanian author received the Don Quxote of Mancha prize.
As the Albanian and Spanish literatures have been communicating over the last years, a vision of “Albania – Spain: in the literature of each other” was proposed through the presentation of the book by the Albanian author Fatos Kongoli The Dog’s Hide, recently translated in Spanish, and the presentation of the book Albania in the mirror of literature by the Spanish author Ramon Sanchez Lizarralde.
These events were hosted at the Philological Faculty of Tirana, who celebrated at the same time the creation of a new department of Hispanic Studies.
The American contemporary author Sean Thomas Dougherty was at the Academy of Arts inviting the auditors to his laboratory of art. His stay in Tirana and Durr쳠will make the auditors meet the poet as an ambulatory word magician.