Fatos Arapi

Fatos Arapi is an Albanian poet, short story writer, translator and journalist, laureate of the Struga Poetry Evenings Golden Wreath Award for 2008.

Biography

Born in 1930 in the village of Zvërnec near Vlorë, he studied economics in Sofia, Bulgaria from 1949 to 1954, then started to work as a journalist in Tirana. He soon made a name for himself as a poet, and went on to work as a researcher for the History and Philology Department of Tirana University. He now lives in Tirana.

Characteristics of his poetic work

Never fearing innovation, despite the cultural isolation of his country, Arapi has been a pioneer of free verse and experimental poetry in 1960s Albanian literature. Born on the seaside, the maritime universe has always inspired his verses, as has Albania's troubled history. He has also written meditative poetry, love poems and elegies, with the eternal questions on life and death as a recurrent theme.

Translation work

He translated into Albanian the works of poets such as Sappho, Pablo Neruda and Nikola Vaptsarov. He was the editor-in-chief of two anthologies: Songs of the Peoples and Anthology of Turkish Verse.

Selected works

Poetry

• Shtigjet poetike (Poetic Paths) 1962
• Poema dhe vjersha (Poems and Verses) 1966
• Ritme të hekura (Rhythms of Iron) 1968
• Më jepni një emër (Give Me A Name), 1972 (later banned by Enver Hoxha's regime)
• Gloria victis,1997
• Eklipsi i endrrës (Solar Eclipse) 2002

Short stories

• Patate të egra (Sour Potatoes) 1970
• Dikush më buzëqeshte (Someone Smiled At Me) 1972
• Gjeniu pa kokë (Headless Genius) 1999

Plays

• Partizani pa emër (The Anonymous Partisan) 1962
• Qezari dhe ushtari i mirë Shvejk (Caesar and the Good Soldier Švejk) 1995