Stigmata

Gëzim Hajdari (b. 1957) was born in Lushnja Albania but has lived in Frosinone Italy since 1992 initially in the ruins of an abandoned building but now in an apartment that he was awarded by the town council after he was awarded the prestigious Montale Prize. He writes in both Albanian and Italian but is perhaps more recognised in his adopted country than in his native land. Stigmate / Vragë appeared in a bilingual edition in 2002 and here receives its first complete English translation. My identity is Gëzim my body is my fatherland says the author.