On occasion of the 10th anniversary of Kosovo Independence, MCYS awarded Literature Prizes

15.02.2018

In the framework of the activities planned to be organized according to the state agenda for the 10th anniversary of Independence of Kosovo, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Kujtim Gashi, at a ceremony, has awarded the National Prize for Life Work "Azem Shkreli" and for Annual Literary Awards.

The Annual Prize for Life Work "Azem Shkreli" was given to writer Rushit Ramabaja as a versatile author with a corpus of 36 literary works in five different genres, novels, long stories, short stories, drama, poetry, literary criticism, essays and monographs.

The jury estimates that Rushit Ramabaja, as a sui generis writer, has a special place in the pantheon of national creative values and is considered to be honored with the Azem Shkreli Award, which is also accompanied with a financial value of five thousand Euros.

The well-known writer Fatmir Halimi was awarded with the Prose Award "Anton Pashku" for the novel "Two deaths of one life", which according to the jury, the author simultaneously refers to the theme of war and love. The fable of this work is not a product of imagination but has components of inbound reality and a sentimental structure.

Hence, the award for the best poetry work "Ali Podrimja" was split for the writers: Ismail Syla for the poetic work "Atdheu im in grysur" (My Gloomy Homeland), through its lyrical eloquence concludes the epics, having as its starting point the verb, not only a folk features and the poet Ragip Syla for the work "Kam drojë për ty" (I fear for You) as one of the most representative voices of Albanian poetry represented with a philosophical and meditative content.

The jury estimates that this year prize "Vehbi Kikaj" for children and youth, shall be split between two writers, Mexhit Mehmeti "Ecejaket e Hero Lindit" (Adventures of Hero Lindi) for the stories and coalesce that carry the message about the life of youth; and the writer Avni Dehari for the collection of stories "Flakadanët e Lirisë" (Flames of Liberty) that conveys the contentious message about the glorious history of the Skanderbeg era.

The “Ibrahim Rugova” award for the best work in literary critics and essayistic was given to Arben Veselaj for the study named "Tema Kadareane", which analyzed and disaggregated the stylistic and linguistic features of the publicist and essayist of entire essayist opus of Ismail Kadare.

The award "Pjetër Bogdani" for the best work translated in Albanian and vice versa was given to Orjela Stefasani for Ernesto Sabato's "People and Gears", for which the jury considers that she has managed to overcome the challenge of translating a problematic book in the thematic and terminological aspect, which the translator has managed to bring in a fluent Albanian language along with the author's concepts.

Each of the prizes will be rewarded with a monetary value of 2,500 Euros, while the laureates who share the prize in a category reward with the sum of 1250 Euros. The bonuses are stipulated in accordance with Regulation no. 06/2015 (MCYS) for National Literary Prize for Life Work "Azem Shkreli" and for Annual Literary Prizes.

The Laureates received the respective prizes based on the decision of the jury in the composition of Hysen Matoshi, Merxhan Abdyli, Brikena Ceraja-Beka, Shkelqim Millaku and Qazim Thaçi.

Minister Gashi qualified the awarded Prizes as an acknowledgment of the institutions, the work and the literary creativity of our writers and authors and the support of the Ministry is considered as an incentive for the growth of genuine artistic values.

"As minister, I, highly appreciate the award of these prizes for literature, because I believe that by awarding these Prizes on regular annual basis, we contribute to stimulating and encouraging creators to write and enrich the art of our written word," Minister Gashi said.

The Ministry, underlined Minister Gashi, year after year has increased the support for publishing, purchasing and distributing the book as a cultural policy aimed at advancing and intensifying literary art in our country.

Laureate Ramabaja, said that he felt happy, of course, if he managed to convey to the reader a message of good, beauty, and humankind.

"We feel to be honored today on the 10th anniversary of Kosovo's statehood, i.e. of our ancient Dardania. We are receiving this assessment from our own people, precisely from our Ministry of Culture, namely from our state, a state for whose foundations were sacrificed so many generations throughout the centuries, until the recent fallen martyrs of the KLA. Let us hope that in the next 10 years and in the coming centuries our people will become better and our country will become more prosperous and powerful ", Ramabaja said.

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