Besnik Mustafaj The Students of UKZKM Meet the Writer

Writer Besnik Mustafaj met, in the “Aula Magna” of UKZKM, an audience of students, professors, doctors from the Catholic Hospital, and the President of the “Our Lady of Good Counsel” Foundation, Fr. Ruggero Valentini. He answered a series of questions from them about his life, which twenty years ago was divided between politics and his passion for literature. The event combined the need to encourage reflection among young people and to help them become familiar with the world of literature, of which Besnik Mustafaj is a respected representative, as well as offering the writer an opportunity to engage directly with the readers of his books. The meeting was welcomed by the President of the “Our Lady of Good Counsel” Foundation, Fr. Ruggero Valentini, who not only read the author’s work in Italian but also drew the audience’s attention to the importance of spiritual and human enrichment for young people in today’s world, marked by the challenges of globalization and technology. “Vera pa kthim (The Summer Without Return)”, the novel published in several languages, was the main starting point of the event, moderated by UKZKM Library Director Mimoza Agastra. The literary dialogue was further enriched by performances from the University Choir (Zoja Band), which performed the National Anthem in honor of the November holidays, as well as several songs with lyrics by famous Albanian authors. The writer himself shared the conversation with the students and the many guests as a journey through his life, during which he developed his passion for literature and his desire to communicate with the world through prose. Besnik Mustafaj published his first book of poems at just 19 years old. In the 1980s he also published two poetry books, two prose books for children, a short-story collection, and a novel. During the same period, he wrote two screenplays for feature films, which were later censored. Over the course of his life, he has received all the major literary awards in the country. In 2019, for the novel “Dëmtuar gjatë rrugës”, he received the “Grand Prize” for best book of the year, awarded by the Albanian Publishers Association at the Tirana Book Fair. In 2024, the novel “Fati i marrë” was awarded, for the second time, as the best novel of the year. In 2025, at the Preshevë Book Fair, Besnik Mustafaj received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his literary work. Several of his novels, essays, poems, and plays have been translated into more than ten languages. In Italian, the novel “Një sagë e vogël burgu (A Small Prison Saga)”, the essay “Shqipëria midis krimeve dhe mirazheve”, and the selected poetry collection “Legjenda e lindjes time” have been translated. His novel “Daullja prej letre”, in the French edition published by Actes Sud, received the Méditerranée Étranger Award. The novel “Boshi”, published in France by Albin Michel, was a finalist for the Médicis Étranger Prize. In Italy, the novel “Një sagë e vogël burgu (A Small Prison Saga)” received the Flaiano Prize and is currently being adapted for the stage by an Italian theatre company. Two of his novels, “Vera pa kthim (The Summer Without Return)” and “Daullja prej letre”, have also been adapted into film screenplays in Albania.