Ledia Dushi

Ledia Dushi (born 1978) is an Albanian writer and academic. She is known for her poetry in the Gheg Albanian dialect, unusual in a country where published writing is almost exclusively in Tosk Albanian.

Early life and education

Ledia Dushi was born in 1978 in Shkodër, a city in northern Albania.[1] She studied Albanian language and literature, obtaining a doctoral degree in ethnology and folklore from the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Art Studies at the Academy of Albanological Studies.[1][2][3]

Career

Dushi previously worked as a journalist, as well as in municipal government in Shkodër, where she focused on cultural issues.[1][2]

As an academic, she worked as a lecturer at the University of Belgrade in Albanian language and literature, then at the European University of Tirana.[2] Her academic research focuses on folklore and religious rites, particularly burial rites in northern Albania.[3]

In addition to her own poetry and academic writing, Dushi translates others' work from English, Spanish, and Italian, including writing by Gabriele D'Annunzio, Dylan Thomas, and Jorge Luis Borges.[2]

Writing

Dushi is best known for her work as a poet. Notably, she writes primarily in Gheg Albanian, the dialect used in her native Shkodër.[1][2] This sets her apart from the vast majority of Albanian writers, who use the standard Albanian dialect that is based on the southern Tosk Albanian.[4] Early in her career, she was criticized for publishing in Gheg, accused of wanting to divide the Albanian nation.[5]

Her first book of poetry, Ave Maria bahet lot, was published in 1997.[1][6] The following year, it was awarded the Albanian Ministry of Culture's prize for best debut book.[2] This was followed by two more collections in 1999 and 2003.[1]

Her 2009 collection of 33 poems Me mujt me fjet me kthimin e shpendve has been described by some critics as her "masterpiece."[2] Most recently, she has published the collections N`nji fije t`thellë gjaku (2019) and Femna s`asht njeri (2020).[7] A collection of her poetry translated into English was published in 2019 under the title Rain in the Dark.[2]

Dushi's poetry is influenced by the work of such modernists as Ezra Pound.[8]

Selected works
  • Ave Maria bahet lot (Ave Maria Turns to Tears), 1997
  • Seancë dimnash (Session of Winters), 1999
  • Askush nuk vdes për mue (No One Dies for Me), 2003
  • Me mujt me fjet me kthimin e shpendve (If I Could Sleep With the Bird's Return), 2009
  • N`nji fije t`thellë gjaku (In a Deep Thread of Blood), 2019
  • Femna s`asht njeri (Woman Is Not Human), 2020

References
  1. "Ledia Dushi Biography". Albanian Literature. Retrieved 2021-03-17.
  2. "Ledia Dushi – What Comes From the Waters". Live Encounters. March 2020. Retrieved 2021-03-17.
  3. "Ledia Dushi". Instituti i Antropologjisë Kulturore dhe i Studimit të Artit (in Albanian). Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  4. "ALBANIAN (Shqip)". Center for Second Language Studies. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  5. Stieger, Cyrill (December 2016). "Einführung". Orte (in German). 189.
  6. Velaj, Alisa (2020-10-26). "Ledia Dushi, poete elitare - e ndryshme nga 'aradha e Sibilave'". ObserverKult (in Albanian). Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  7. "Ledia Dushi (Albania)". Atunis Galaxy Poetry. 2020-11-01. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  8. Krasniqi, Gazmend (2017-11-26). "POETI I DITËS – Ledia DUSHI". Palimpsest. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
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