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.
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]
