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Shkruar nga Briseida MEMA
The writer Ismail Kadare, several times a candidate for the Nobel Prize for Literature, is a major figure in European literature. Author of many masterpieces, translated into 40 languages of the world, he was waiting for the AFP at his home in Tirana, a few hours before receiving the title of "Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor" from French President Emmanuel Macron.
- What is literature for you, considered as one of the greatest contemporary writers who lived and wrote during the years of the communist dictatorship?
Writing in the dictatorship was difficult, almost impossible. Impossible to write the way you wanted to write. This is why I am grateful to literature: Literature gave me the opportunity to overcome the impossible.
Communist hell, like any other hell, is suffocating in the worst sense of the word. But literature manages to transform it into a life force, a force you rely on to survive, to overcome anything head on.
I have always been loyal to literature, I have always respected its orders, I have been deeply connected to it, it has been the goal of my life, the absolute goal of my life that has made it possible to overcome every difficulty. When art survives, this is a triumph, a victory.
And as Kundera says: "Art never triumphs sitting down"!
Literature has given me everything I have, it has given me the meaning of life, it has given me the courage to fight, to have hope, to feel joy, to overcome everything: This is literature!
- Is literature the greatest love of your life?
Literature is my greatest, only, greatest love. Literature is everything for me, my life, the life of others, the life of everyone.
Literature lives in parallel with the world, walks with it, by its side.
She gave me everything I have today, she was and is the meaning of life, she gave me the courage to stay, the spirit, the spirit, happiness and hope. Everything beautiful to me is literature!
I carry it with me everywhere, I write all the time, I take notes, I write stories, I have projects to publish manuscripts, but some of them I need to see again.
Every publication is like a rebirth for me, it's always been that way. Literature is similar to dreams. Literature feeds the soul.
-Are you sad that you haven't received the Nobel Prize for Literature yet? Were you one of the few selected candidates this year?
The Nobel Prize is an honor that the world gives to art and I am honored to have been selected as a candidate for this prize many times, which certainly touches me and certainly makes me happy.
I appreciate my books a lot, I respect my books a lot, not only as the author, but because they belong to Albanian literature. They are assets, part of everyone. A writer to feel proud only wants to contribute to this wealth.
My work is that of my people, it is Albanian literature and it does not belong to me, it belongs to the human spirit, to all the people of this country.
Albania is one of the most loyal countries in Europe and will always remain so, and France is one of the countries that has appreciated my literature, and this is definitely an honor for me.
We are sons of art, we serve art.
And for everything I have done, I am grateful to art. His creative force. Like art, the writer never ages. / AFP
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