Ag Apolloni
Ag Apolloni (Albanian pronunciation: [ag apo'ɫoni]; born 13 June 1982) is an Albanian writer, poet, playwright, scholar, and essayist. He is a professor at the University of Prishtina. His literary works are distinguished for their dramatic dimension, philosophical treatment, and critical attitude towards history, politics, and society.
Ag Apolloni | |
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![]() Apolloni in 2019 | |
Born | Kaçanik, Kosovo | 13 June 1982
Occupation |
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Nationality | Kosovar Albanian |
Period | 2009–present |
Notable works | The Howl of the Wolf 2013 Red Riding Hood: Fairytale for Grown Ups 2022 |
Early life
Ag Apolloni was born on 13 June 1982, in Kaçanik (Kosovo). He completed elementary school and gymnasium in his hometown in 2001. Then, in 2005, he completed his Dramaturgy and Literature studies at the University of Prishtina. For economic reasons, he stopped studying Philosophy in 2006 and spent most of two years in Pristina Hospital caring for his ailing father, who died in 2007. In 2008, Ag Apolloni took over the title of Master of Philological Sciences, and in 2012 received the title of Doctor of Philological Sciences. Apolloni is currently a professor at the University of Pristina, where he has been working since 2008.[1]
Work
Apolloni has worked as a journalist, editor, and editor-in-chief in several daily newspapers and literary and cultural magazines in Pristina. In 2010 he reactivated and ran for three years the oldest literary magazine in Kosovo, "New Life" (in Albanian "Jeta e Re"), which was first founded in 1949,[2] and closed in 2006. In 2013, he founded the cultural journal "Symbol", in which he conducted interviews with: Linda Hutcheon, Jonathan Culler, Rita Dove,[3] Gottfried Helnwein, Andreas Huyssen, DM Thomas, Javier Cercas,[4] Ann Jefferson, Peter Singer, Stephen Greenblatt, Stanley Fish, David Damrosch etc. Apolloni's works have been translated into several languages, such as: English, Dutch, German, Czech, Macedonian, Montenegrin, etc. Several times, Apolloni has been awarded national awards for his fictional and scholarly works.
Oeuvre
Ag Apolloni started writing in 2003. In a café, he had heard a war story about a criminal collecting the eyes of his victims, which shocked him so deeply that he created a monodrama overnight. This monodrama, called "Stephen, or the story of an eye collector", was also published in the Austrian Journal, "Lichtungen".[5] During his studies he kept a poetic journal, which he published in 2009 under the title "Zomb". Whereas in 2013, he published the novel "The Howl of the Wolf" (Albanian "Ulurima e ujkut"), where, through postmodern form, he combines pain with fury. The author spares no one, he criticizes everyone: himself, family, society, nation, world, and God. After this novel, he wrote the novel "Zazen" as an homage to a friend of his who, after finishing his studies at the Philosophy Branch, was unable to find work in his native land, resentful of all, had decided to disappear and, after a few days, was found dead in an abyss. While Apolloni's plays provoke fear and compassion, as his poems transform intimate life into art, his prose is awe and rage. Whereas, studies of "Postmodern Parable" (Albanian "Parabola postmoderne") (2010), "The Paradigm of Proteus" (Albanian "Paradigma e Proteut") (2012), and reviews published in periodicals show a tendency to open up new research paths.
Novels
The Howl of the Wolf
The novel "The Howl of the Wolf" (2013) addresses many themes from multiple angles. The novel also deals with the painful separation between the living and the dead. The novel is rife with despair and fury, accompanied by humor, with references to music, painting, film, and theater. Events are set in Kosovo, Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, Italy and Austria, where the novel is completed. The novel "The Howl of the Wolf" is translated in Macedonian,[6] Czech[7][8][9] and Montenegrin.[10]
Zazen
"Zazen" (2014) deals with the fate of a young Kosovar, a friend of the author, who, after graduation, returns to his homeland, but this return becomes tragic for him, as the municipality neglects him, misunderstood by the village, declared insane from the family. "Zazen" interlinks various topics: social, philosophical, political, national, religious, etc. It tells of Zen Zabel's anxiety and tragicomic life, which has many ideas, few demands, and no possibilities.
Glimmer of Hope, Glimmer of Flame
"Glimmer of Hope, Glimmer of Flame" (2020) is a docuroman (documentary novel) about the real tragedy of two Kosovo Albanian mothers from Gjakova, after the war of 1999: one lost her whole family - her husband and four sons - and continues to wait for them more than twenty years later; the other burned herself to death after the remains of two of her sons were returned to her. The novel is a mosaic of the ill-fortunes of war and the painful consequences of peace. It resonates with the powerful echoes and eternal truths of ancient Greek tragedy and with twentieth century human horrors; it explores the meaning of motherhood, family, and home. In 2022, it has been published in Dutch.[11] The novel was praised by the Dutch theorist Mieke Bal as "a literary masterpiece worth being turned into a film."[12] The novel has been promoted in The Hague, on the fifteenth anniversary of Kosovo’s independence.[13]
Red Riding Hood: Fairytale for Grown Ups
"Red Riding Hood: Fairytale for Grown Ups" (2022) is about a flirtatious Red Riding Hood and a sick Wolf. It is a love story and a walk through the magical forest of storytelling, where the characters enter the paths of mythology, fairy tales, religion, and animation. Screams and sighs, barks and bleats come as a symbolic confrontation that awakens the call of the wild within us.
This narrative uses cartoon logic within combinatorial art, where theatrical, film, and musical elements are combined; it is prose with poetry and drama inside. Set in a small country on the continent that took its name from a raped woman (Europe), it also talks about the rapes during the war in Kosovo and their consequences on peace. Also, one chapter about the desperate and lonely wolf is located in Debrecen, where the novel was written.
The novel is built as a philosophical walk through a real and fabulous world. This is not a documentary novel nor a pure fairy tale.
“Red Riding Hood: Fairytale for Grown Ups” has been written in Debrecen (Hungary), and it was published in Albania (by “Albas”) and in Kosova (by Bard Books), at the same time.[14]
Plays
Drama
The book "Drama: The story of an Eyes Collector, Halloween, Judith, Mat" (2010) contains three tragic dramas, which in the order of the number of characters, openly display the reference to the origin of Greek drama and antique theater (to The story of an eyes collector, who has only one character, fantasy leads to Thespis's carriage; Halloween includes the second character, according to Aeschylus's model, while Judith enters the third character, modeled on Sophocles), as well as a text of Aristophanes' spirit, as a relaxation for the public. Monodrama The story of an Eyes Collector is a harrowing story of an eye collector living in his pantry with 4,998 eyes collected during the war in Bosnia and Kosovo. Apolloni wrote this work at the age of 21 as "an elegy for the last decade of the last century, namely a reminder of the crimes that shocked the world." Monodrama is a story that treats love and crime, life and death as a binomial that can shock the public. ”Halloween is an incestuous story about Halloween night. This drama was written by Apolloni, prompted by reading a feast on the life of serial killer Ted Bundy. Judith is a biblically motivated drama treated as a mythical story of the East-West conflict, the misunderstanding between man and God, and subjection and courage. Comedy Mat is a pastime built on the works of directors Ingmar Bergman and Woody Allen, on the ridiculous confrontation between man and death.
Hamlet according to Horatio
"Hamlet according to Horatio" is a psychoanalytic tragedy embodying Freud's theoretical ideas to give a possible story of Hamlet, touching on the theme of double incest (brother-sister, mother-son) and the theme of multiple betrayals. "Hamlet according to Horatio" is a pastiche, or dramatic hypertext, built on Shakespeare's Hamlet and on Freud's interpretations of Hamlet as an imperfect Oedipus. Thematically, "Hamlet according to Horatio" is an alternate story echoed by Oresteia, Oedipus Rex, and Hamlet. This drama, called “My Hamlet” as a working title, has been announced as the winner of the annual "Katarina Josipi" Drama Award.[15]
Scanderbeg: Marlowe's Manuscript
"Scanderbeg: Marlowe's Manuscript" is a play written according to the postmodern principle of manuscript, to find an Elizabethan drama of the 16th century which is considered a lost drama: "The True History of George Scanderbeg" by Christopher Marlowe. For the writing of this play, the author has used many historical, literary, cinematographic, and theatrical materials to create a credible reality of the Scanderbeg era. Here the hero presents himself between myth and reality, both a great and a human figure.[16]
Poems
Zomb
"Zomb" (2009) is a madrigal book. It contains a total of 100 poems and an epistle-shaped representation. The book begins with a provocative dedication ("My Friend's Wife"), with two verses from English poet John Milton ("If death joins me with you / it will be life for me"), as it unfolds in six units: Ouverture, Edenic Waltz, Dionysian Sonata, Siren Symphony, Requiem Eros and Coda. "Zomb" is an erotic-themed book built on the principles of the medieval madrigal. It is a book that contains many elements of classical music, jazz, blues, rock, pop, etc.; from world cinema, from ancient, medieval, modernist, and contemporary literature; and also from religions such as Buddhism, Totemism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Non-fiction
My Middle Ages
"My Middle Ages" is a book of autobiographical essays, also referred to as narrative-essayist autobiography.[17][18] The book consists of 10 essays with Latin titles: Obscura, Vulgus, Doctrina, Pelegrin, Allegoria, Persona, Schisma, Templarius, Inquisitio and Memento, which cover the life of the author and present-day Kosovar actuality.[19]
Critical books
Literary studies
Apart from fiction, Ag Apolloni also deals with literary studies.[20] He has so far published two study books: "Postmodern Parable" and "The Paradigm of Proteus". The first study, an extension of his master's thesis, is a monograph on the first postmodern Albanian writer, Rexhep Qosja. The second study, which is his doctoral thesis, is a monograph on the most translated Albanian novel, The General of the Dead Army, by Ismail Kadare. Also, in 2016 he published the book Konica's Suitcase, which is a collection of essays dealing with various issues of Albanian literature, such as its language, values, themes and functions of propaganda, historical, political, religious etc. It discusses the main authors, works, and phenomena of this literature. In 2019 he started to publish a critical book called "Commentum", his major project in several volumes.
Bibliography
Poetry
- Zomb (2009)
- Seneca's Sandals (Albanian: Sandalet e Senekës), (2020)
- The Rhetoric of Silence (Albanian: Retorika e heshtjes), (2021)
- Notes from the cave (Albanian: Shënime nga shpella), (2023)
Novels
- The Howl of the Wolf (Albanian: Ulurima e ujkut), (2013)
- Zazen (2014)
- Glimmer of hope, glimmer of flame (Albanian: Një fije shprese, një fije shkrepëse), (2020)
- Red Riding Hood: Fairytale for Grown Ups (Albanian: Kësulëkuqja: përrallë për të rritur), (2022)
Plays
- The Story of An Eyes Collector, Halloween, Judith, Mat, (2010)
- Hamlet according to Horatio (Albanian: Hamleti simbas Horacit), (2017)
- Skanderbeg: Manuscript of Marlowe (Albanian: Skenderbeu, manuskripti i Marlout), (2018)
Studies, essays
- The Postmodern Parable (Albanian: Parabola postmoderne), (2010)
- The Paradigm of Proteus (Albanian: Paradigma e Proteut), (2012)
- Konitza's Suitcase (Albanian: Koferi i Konicës), (2016)
- Commentum (2019)
Autobiography
- My Middle Age(s) (Albanian: Mesjeta ime), (2019)
In other languages
1. English: Glimmer of Hope, Glimmer of Flame, translated by Robert Wilton. Cornwall: Elbow, 2023.
2. German: - Ein Funke Hoffnung, ein zündender Funke, translated by Zuzana Finger. Zürich: Xanthippe, 2023.
3. Dutch: - Een sprankje hoop, een lont, translated by Jan Jansen. Utrecht: Het Wereldvenster, 2022.
4. Montenegrin: - Vučji urlik, translated by Danilo Brajović. Podgorica: Zavoda za udžbenike i nastavna sredstva, 2022.
5. Czech: - Vytí vlka, vlka vytí, translated by Orkida Backus Borshi. Prague: Kniha Zlín, 2019.
6. Macedonian: - Завивањето на волкот, translated by Mirjana Ilieva Jashari. Skopje: Goten, 2015.
References
- ", Jetëshkrimi i Dr. Ag Apolloni, filologjia.uni-pr.edu Vizituar më 23 qershor 2016". Archived from the original on 2019-08-18. Retrieved 2019-08-18.
- ""Plot shtatë dekada, kjo është revista më e vjetër letrare në hapësirat shqiptare"". Gazeta e re. 2019-06-08. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
- ""Poetry is a kind of dance"". Eurozine. 2017-02-14. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
- ""The freedom of the novel"". Eurozine. 2019-02-21. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
- ""Stefan"". Lichtungen Zeitschrift für Literatur, Kunst und Zeitkritik. 2011-06-20. Archived from the original on 2018-11-04. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
- ""Book from a Kosovar writer promoted in Macedonian"". ibna Independent Balkan News Agency. 2016-02-16. Archived from the original on 2021-12-09. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
- Zdeněk Svoboda (2019-06-29). ""Kosovský prozaik srovnal se zemí všechny blbce"". Krajske Listy. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
- Ondřej Horák (2019-06-29). ""Nečtěte naše autory, čtěte ty cizí!"". PressReader. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
- Julie Ginzberg (2019-07-12). ""Dantovo Peklo v Kosovu"". iLiteratura.cz. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
- ""U Podgoričkoj knjižari promovisan roman "Vučji urlik" kosovskog pisca Ag Apolonia"". CdM. 2022-10-22. Retrieved 2022-11-27.
- ""Een sprankje hoop, een lont"". Amazon. 2022-10-10. ASIN 9076905541.
- ""Një fije shprese, një fije shkrepëse" i flet Hagës për tmerret e luftës në Kosovë". Koha ditore. 2023-02-23. Retrieved 2023-03-18.
- ""Glimmer of Hope, Glimmer of Flame Comes to The Hague"". Prishtina Insight. 2023-02-21. Retrieved 2023-03-18.
- ""The Albanian "Debrecen" Book is Out"". Hungarian Writers Residence. 2022-11-09. Retrieved 2022-11-27.
- "Ag Apolloni fitues i Çmimit "Katarina Josipi"". KultPlus. 2017-11-15. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
- "'Skenderbeu: Manuskripti i Marlout' i Ag Apollonit". Zëri. 2018-06-01. Retrieved 2018-06-02.
- ""Mesjeta... e Apollonit nxit përplasje qysh në përurim"". Koha Ditore. 2019-03-01. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
- "Doli nga shtypi "Mesjeta ime" i Ag Apollonit". Rtv 21. 2019-02-11. Archived from the original on 2019-02-12. Retrieved 2019-03-06.
- "Doli nga shtypi "Mesjeta ime" i Ag Apollonit". Kallxo.com. 2019-02-28. Retrieved 2019-03-06.
- Ag Apolloni (2017-06-26). ""The end of the era of endings"". Eurozine. Retrieved 2019-09-01.