“Under this same sky, for five days and nights, the greatest authors from all over the world live together!” It was so that the Turin Book Fair (Salone Internazionale del Libro di Torino) welcomed well-known and young authors to join in the 35th edition of the largest trade fair for books, which attracts thousands of visitors, with Albania as its guest of honor.
“It is a possibility for the whole world to see our country through the eyes of the Italians. It has been a long wait, and we could not but accept the invitation. We had a very short period to prepare, but at the same time, this is a very big opportunity for us, to show the literary Albania,” said the Albanian Minister for Culture Elva Margariti, in her opening remarks at the inauguration of the fair.
Renowned Albanian writer, Ismail Kadare, whose work has been translated in tens of languages, greeted the participants through a video-message.
“I have a lot of appreciation for this event. It gives me great joy and not only because I am hearing good news about my country. The joy spreads throughout my being and I believe in each of us. This happens when people live with high interests for themselves, when they want to be useful to themselves, and when that happens, it is also useful to others,” said the writer, as the first copies of his complete work were presented in the fair, a tribute to his creation that spans through decades.
The activity was planned in the form of a dialogue between Albanian-born singer Ermal Meta, who has a long career now in Italy, and Minister Margariti, who shared their personal life experiences between Albania and Italy with the participants.
Albania’s honorary stand takes readers back in the ‘90s, with the country emerging from one of the harshest communist regimes the world had ever seen. The trauma of the dictatorship and the consequent choice of migration that saw thousands of individuals crossing the Adriatic Sea serve as the main theme of the selected literary works that were presented by Albanian authors in this year’s fair.
The Turin Book Fair is open until May 22nd and the guest list includes well-known names of Albanian publications.
