Luljeta LLESHANAKU

  • Europe
  • Southern Europe
  • Albania
Albanian

Luljeta LLESHANAKU (born 1968, Elbasan) is the author of four poetry collections, Sytw e somnambulws (1993); Kwmbanat e sw djelws (1995); and Gysëmkubizëm,which received the 1996 best book of the year award from the Eurprolindja Publishing House. Her American translator, Henry Israeli, a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, was responsible for the publication of some of Luljeta's work in such US publications as Grand Street and the Seneca Review. Her poetry has appeared in publications in Germany, Austria, France, as well as anthologies such as Modern Poetry in Translation and the Italian-Albanian anthology Mediterraneo 1. She also writes reviews and critical studies. Ms. Lleshanaku was educated in literature at the University of Tirana, and was chief editor for the weekly magazine Voice of Youth and subsequently worked in Drita, her country's oldest and largest cultural magazine. She is currently employed in the daily newspaper Rilindja. She is publishing a collection of reviews and essays and is translating John Ashbery's poetry in Albanian. Her participation in the IWP is supported by ArtsLink Residencies. She will take part in the program from the end of October through early December.

Happening Now

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  • Ranjit Hoskote’s speech at the 2024 Goa Literary Festival addresses the current situation in Gaza.

  • In NY Times, Bina Shah worries about the state of Pakistani—and American—democracy.

  • “I went to [Ayodhya] to think about what it means to be an Indian and a Hindu... ”  A new essay by critic and novelist Chandrahas Choudhury.

  • In the January 2024 iteration of the French/English non-fiction site Frictions, T J Benson writes about “Riding Afrobeats Across the World.” Also new, a next installment in the bilingual series featuring work by students from Paris VIII’s Creative Writing program and the University of Iowa’s NFW program.

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