Petro Marko

Petro Marko is widely regarded as one of the founding fathers of modern Albanian prose. He was one of the most controversial writers in Communist Albania. A Spanish Civil-War Veteran, a communist and a humanist, he spent many years as a political prisoner on charges of dissidence and while some of his books never got published, most of them got censored and partly edited before being published. A prolific writer, he mostly wrote novels which deal with grander political themes as well as universal humanist issues. He also wrote books for children. His last book, published post-mortem in the year 2000, “Interviews with Myself: Clouds and Rocks” enumerates his difficult life under the dictatorship of Enver Hoxha. His best-known novel is titled Hasta La Vista and recounts his experiences as a volunteer of the Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War. He started writing at the age of twenty and his first works were published in journals of the time with support from Ernest Koliqi his mentor. His articles would be published in periodicals as “Lirija”, “Shqipëria e Re”, “Bota e Re” and “Koha e Re” magazine since he was 20. From March 1, 1936 he became the editor of ABC, a literary review which was banned by the monarchist authorities soon after, following with Marko being arrested and sent to internment. Many works of Marko exhibit surrealist motifs and patterns. He died in 1991, while in 2003 President of Albania, Alfred Moisiu decorated him with the medal “Honor of the Nation”.