PIERFRANKO BRUNI – WINNER OF THE “NAIM FRASHERI” GREAT LITERARY AWARD

The Italian/Arberian poet from Calabria, Pierfranko Bruni, is the winner of the “Naim Frashëri” grand prize of the 27th Edition of the International Poetry Festival”Ditet e Naimit”. This is the decision of the Festival’s Jury composed of literature scholars, Prof. Dr. Ymer Çiraku (president), Prof. Dr. Vebi Bexheti and Mr. Ndue Ukaj (members). In 2004, the Festival Directorate announced the poet Pierfranko Bruni as an Honorary Member of the Festival. The International Poetry Festival “Ditet e Naimit” will be held from October 19th– 21st, 2023, in the city of Tetova and in Kosova.

This was announced in a press conference held on September 22nd, by the director of the IPF “Ditet e Naimit”, Shaip Emërllahu and by the member of the Jury, Prof. Dr. Vebi Bexheti. Earlier, well-known names of literature were awarded with this literary award, such as: Ismail Kadare (Albania), Desmond Egan (Ireland), Ali Podrimja (Kosova), Fatos Arapi (Albania), Lionel Ray (France), Abdelatif Laabi ( Morocco), Eva Lipska (Poland), Tua Forstrom (Finland), Peter Poulsen (Denmark), Athanase de Thracy (Bulgaria), Kuei shien Lee (Taiwan), George Wallace (USA), Visar Zhiti (Albania), Fiona Sampson ( England), Kama Kamanda (Congo), Kristoffer Leandoer (Sweden), etc.

The member of the Festival Jury, Prof. Dr. Vebi Bexheti presented the justification for awarding the “Naim Frashëri” literary award. He, among other things, said that, “Pierfranco Bruni is a multidimensional personality. In addition to being a researcher in the field of archeology and a director in the Ministry of Cultural Heritage of Italy, he is well known to the Italian reader and beyond as a poet, literary critic and essayist.

Pierfranko Bruni

He has published several poetry collections. His contribution is also appreciated in a series of studies on Italian, European and Mediterranean literature of the twentieth century, where the writings about prominent world-class authors such as Pirandelo, Quasimodo, D’Annunzio, Ungareti e Pavese stand out.

In particular, his poetry, through its rich figurative and ideological system, carries a strong wave of humanism and unwavering faith in the existential values of humanity. He believes that even in the deepest night, a small star should be found, which will illuminate the human journey. His creed as a writer is summed up in the sentence so meaningful that to write, in fact, is to live within the word. So, the mission of the writer is that he identifies and is embodied with everything – in his work. So to speak, to have an inseparable covenant in the relationship between the writer and the work, where only sincerity and unconditional truth prevail.

So, in this poet, prose writer and literary essayist, the aesthetic approach through a dense network of philosophical references is an obvious feature, which brings a very synthesizing and universal dimension to these creations.

Further, in the motivation of the Jury, it was said that, “As a creator born in the Calabrian environment of Southern Italy, there are also present in this poem some motifs with the memory of the Illyrian Teuta, or with the symbolic bird of the eagle.” According to his point of view, the legend is a mystery that lives in the truth, which is why it is addressed without hesitation to the queen of Illyrian glory, when he sees so similarly: “your eyes with the color of the women of Shkodra”.

In the evaluations that have been made of this creativity, there are two basic segments that characterize his literary journey: memory and nostalgia. So, the poetics of his work wanders and acquires value in these literary and aesthetic spaces”.

The Director of the Festival Shaip Emërllahu, at the end of the press conference, announced that this year 20 poets have been invited from different countries of the world, such as: USA, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Italy, Palestine, Switzerland, France, Mexico, South Korea , Iraq, Belgium, Turkey, Croatia, Greece, etc., and many poets from all over Albania and the diaspora. The program of this Edition will also be diverse in terms of content. In his corner, several literary hours will be held, books from the “Ditet e Naimit” Publishing House will be promoted, cultural and historical localities will be visited, etc.

Tetova, September 22nd, 2023

D. Hadri