Fatos Lubonja

Fatos Lubonja is one of Albania’s most prominent contemporary writers and public intellectuals. His work spans memoir, political essay, literary criticism, and fiction, often marked by a commitment to truth, human rights, and critical inquiry. A former political prisoner under the communist regime of Enver Hoxha, Lubonja has since dedicated his career to deconstructing Albania’s totalitarian past and challenging the myths propagated by both the regime and its cultural elite, including celebrated figures like Ismail Kadare. Lubonja gained international attention with his prison memoir Second Sentence: Inside the Albanian Gulag, which has been translated into several languages. His writing has appeared in leading European journals and media, and he has received numerous awards, including the Herder Prize (2002) and the Alberto Moravia International Prize for Literature (2014). Politically engaged but fiercely independent, Lubonja was a key figure in Albania’s democratic movement in the 1990s but has consistently refused political office. He remains a staunch critic of all forms of authoritarianism, from post-communist strongmen to Western-backed oligarchic regimes. His analyses often critique not only local politics but also the geopolitical strategies of the EU and the USA in the Western Balkans. Lubonja lives between Tirana and Pisa, serving as editor of the influential cultural journal Përpjekja, and continues his work as a freelance journalist, writer, and visual artist. During the last decades has started to exhibit in Albania and abroad his works of conceptual arts Among others: “Endeavour: Burrel prison 1989 – Tirana 1994” This is an installation with the cigarette papers where it was written “The final slaughter”. “People – things”, an installation with things found in the place of his suffering, the prison camp of Spaç, where he has been working in a cooper mine. “Postbllok” (Checkpoint). Lubonja is co-author with Ardian Isufi of the memorial Postbllok (Check point) – a memorial of the communist isolation situated in the center of Tirana just in the entrance of the isolated area where lived the ex-nomenclature of the communist regime. He has received many awards and honors 1995 – Hellman/Hammett Grant- Awarded by Human Rights Watch for writers who have faced political persecution. 2002 – Premio Alberto Moravia for International Literature Awarded by the Fondo Moravia, Rome, for Në vitin e shtatëmbëdhjetë (In the Seventeenth Year). 2004 – Herder Prize for Literature Awarded by the Alfred Toepfer Stiftung F.V.S., Hamburg, for contributions to European culture and literature. 2007 – Ufficiale dell’Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana Bestowed by the President of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano, for contributions to culture and civil society. 2014 – English PEN Award For the book The False Apocalypse (Nëntëdhjeteshtata – Apokalipsi i rremë), published by Istros Books. 2015 – Prince Claus Award for Literature and Journalism Awarded by the Prince Claus Foundation, The Netherlands. 2022 – English PEN Translates Award For the book Like a Prisoner: Stories of Endurance by Fatos Lubonja, translated from the Albanian by John Hodgson (Istros Books)