Albanian-born poet Gëzim Hajdari - exiled in Italy since 1992 and honorary citizen of Frosinone - will take part in 2 events at this year's StAnza Poetry Festival.
POETRY CAFE FOR BREAKFAST: POETRY IN EXILE with Marjorie Lotfi, Gezim Hadjari, Yousif M. Qasmiyeh and Hannah Lowe in conversation
Fri 11 March 10:00am - 11:00am
This event will feature poetry and poets who explore questions of exile / migration / belonging / tracing one’s roots. Marjorie Lotfi, poet and director of Open Book, will chair a discussion with Gezim Hadjari, who has lived in exile from Albania in the UK and Italy since 1992.
Live at The Byre Theatre in St Andrews.
Info & tickets HERE.
THE CONTEMPORARY EPIC with readings from and discussion between Stephanie Sy Quia, Khaled Nurul Hakim and Gëzim Hadjari (tr. Ian Seed)
Fri 11 March 3:45pm - 5:15pm
An extended reading and discussion involving three writers whose writing draws upon the epic tradition, and who rework it for the contemporary context. Albanian writer Gëzim Hadjari (tr. Ian Seed) will read from Bitter Grass, and explore how the oral tradition and the epic can act as weapons of exiled resistance.
In person at The Laidlaw Music Centre in St Andrews and online.
Info & tickets HERE.
Widely recognized as one of the major poets of our times, Gëzim Hajdari was born in 1957 in Hajdaraj, Albania. He acquired his early education in his home town, trained as an accountant, then graduated in Albanian Language and Literature at the A. Xhuvani University in Elbasan and in Modern Letters at La Sapienza University in Rome.
In the course of his intense political activity and his work as a journalist, Hajdari often spoke out against the crimes and abuses perpetrated by the old Hoxha nomenklatura and the post-communist government. For this and other reasons, following repeated threats, he was forced to leave Albania in 1992.
Since 1993 Hajdari, who writes both in Albanian and Italian, has published many books, among which are thirteen collections of poetry and several translations, including I canti dei nizàm (a collection of songs of the Albanian soldiers conscripted into the Ottoman army). Translated into several languages, his poetry is the subject of three major monographs to date and has been awarded a number of prizes. For his literary merits, Hajdari has been granted honorary citizenship of Frosinone, the Italian town south of Rome where he has lived in exile since 1992.
