Ledia Dushi

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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.

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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

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Ledia Dushi Biography". Albanian Literature. Retrieved 2021-03-17.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Ledia Dushi – What Comes From the Waters". Live Encounters. March 2020. Retrieved 2021-03-17.
  3. 1 2 "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.