The League of Writers and Artists of Albania () is a non-profit organization founded with the goal of promoting and advancing the literary and artistic creativity of Albanian writers and artists, as well as to assess and reassess the finest works of art in the following disciplines:

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

. The organization actively promotes the originality and inventiveness of emerging young talents, while preserving Albanian traditional and modern values, in line with the best examples of literary and artistic values throughout the world.

Overview

The League of Writers and Artists of Albania is an organization of creators, based in

Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

, that gathers writers, composers, artists, creators of visual arts and critics alike. The association is a merger of two organizations, the League of Writers established on 7 October 1945 and the League of Artists, established in 1949. The First Congress held in 1957, unified these two organizations into a single institution that came to be known as the "League of Writers and Artists of Albania". This voluntary association initially consisted of 74 members. Some of the most prominent intellectuals that participated in the early formation of the institution included

Sejfulla Malëshova Sejfulla Malëshova (2 March 1900 – 9 June 1971) was an Albanian politician, writer and translator. He was an early member of the Communist leadership in post-World War II Albania and served as the Ministry of Culture and Propaganda. Biography ...

– its first chairman,

Fan Noli Theofan Stilian Noli, known as Fan Noli (6 January 1882 – 13 March 1965), was an Albanian writer, scholar, diplomat, politician, historian, orator, Archbishop, Metropolitan and founder of the Albanian Orthodox Church and the Albanian Orthodox ...

– honorary president, Lasgush Poradeci, Nonda Bulka, Skënder Luarasi,

Dhimitër Shuteriqi Dhimitër Shuteriqi (26 July 1915 ‒ 22 July 2003) was an Albanian scholar, literary historian, and writer. He participated in the anti-fascist National Liberation Movement. After the war he was a member of the People's Assembly and one of th ...

Ali Asllani Ali Asllani (28 November 1884 in Vajza, Vlorë District, 20 December 1966 in Tirana, Albania) was an Albanian poet, politician and activist of the Albanian National Awakening. Biography Asllani was born in village Vajza, Vlorë District, Ottoma ...

, Mitrush Kuteli, Vinçenc Prennushi, Sterjo Spasse, Et'hem Haxhiademi and others.

Activities

Communist period

The Albanian Encyclopedic Dictionary of 1985 describes the functions of the league as follows: Dritëro Agolli (i ri)

The highest structure of the league was the congress, which determined the direction of the literary-artistic creativity. The activity of the congress was guided by the Steering Committee, which in its meetings ( plenums) dealt with issues of literary and artistic development. The working management was handled by the leadership of the committee. The league as a whole consisted of members and candidate members. Several operating commissions were set up which covered:

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

prose Prose is a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language's ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing. It differs from most traditional poetry, where the f ...

dramaturgy Dramaturgy is the study of dramatic composition and the Representation (arts), representation of the main elements of drama on the stage. The term first appears in the eponymous work ''Hamburg Dramaturgy'' (1767–69) by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing ...

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

literary criticism Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

and

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts al ...

. Local branches were established in all districts of the country, which aimed to unite creators from different fields. The League had its own literary publications: Drita,

Nëntori "Nëntori" (; ) is a song by Albanian singer Arilena Ara. The song was entirely written by Albanian musician Lindon Berisha and produced by Macedonian producer Darko Dimitrov. ''Note: Open description for credits.'' It was primarily composed for ...

and a French-language magazine titled "Lettres albanaises".

Legacy

During the 1960s, the league accused writers it deemed guilty of neglecting their responsibility as communists to reflect

socialist realism Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is ch ...

in their writings and thereby advance the goals of the Labour Party. Some were arrested and were either imprisoned or executed and others were hounded by the state

secret police Secret police (or political police) are intelligence, security or police agencies that engage in covert operations against a government's political, religious, or social opponents and dissidents. Secret police organizations are characteristic of a ...

and suffered attacks. Among the notable dissident authors were

Kasëm Trebeshina Kasëm Trebeshina (Berat, 8 August 1926 – Ankara, 6 November 2017) was an Albanian member of national resistance during World War II part of the National Liberation Movement, an actor, translator, communist prosecutor and writer. He was one ...

(imprisoned), Pjetër Arbnori (convicted for his literary anti-communist work and imprisoned for 28 years), Bilal Xhaferri (expelled, exiled in communist

gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...

s, and forced to flee to the United Stated) and Vilson Blloshmi (executed). Others survived, such as the poet

Xhevahir Spahiu Xhevahir Spahiu (born 1 March 1945 in Malind, Skrapar District, Albania) is an Albanian poet. Biography Spahiu studied at the University of Tirana, Faculty of Philology and History, Literature-Language Branch. Since 1968, he has worked as a jo ...

and the writer Ismail Kadare (who ultimately defected to France to escape the regime).

Bibliography

* Academy of Sciences of Albania, ''Encyclopedic Dictionary'', 2nd Edition, (2008),

, * Robert Elsie, ''Albanian literature: a short history'', I.B.Tauris, (2005), .

References