NEWS
NEU auf Deutsch:
- KLEINER SAUBERER KRIEG (Original: PICCOLA GUERRA PERFETTA), übersetzt von Adrian Giacomelli, Ink Press Verlag, Zürich 2018
- HANA (Original: VERGINE GIURATA; auf English: SWORN VIRGIN) übersetzt con Adrian Giacomelli, Ink Press Verlag, Zürich 2017
“The dilemmas acted out by the intensely lovable Hana/Mark/Hana are the archetypal stuff of myth: what is true femininity and masculinity versus their shadow versions? And what if , at their most powerful, the feminine and the masculine are one, just as at their most trivialized, they are opposites?”
(Kapka Kassabova on SWORN VIRGIN)
“I couldn’t put it down. Dones’s ability to tell a politically and psychically complex story with such lightness of touch is down to her flowing, spring-clear prose and slyly subversive vision.” (Kapka Kassabova, The Guardian)
“Subtle and provocative.” (Helen Brown, Sunday Telegraph)
“Deft and lively […] Dones writes in a clean and breezy style, raising sly questions about culture, art, and, especially, gender. Her novel is provocative without being confrontational.” (Publishers Weekly)
“Tender, funny and arrestingly original.” (Jane Shilling, New Statesman)
“Artfully written by one of Albania’s most distinguished authors, Sworn Virgin is a story that resonates far beyond one country’s borders.” (Elizabeth Millard, Foreword Reviews)
I couldn’t put it down. I’m really glad I came across this little gem. (Marie Cloutier – The Boston Bibliophile)
“Beautifully written… an incredibly engrossing read, telling a story that is both engaging and transcendent.” (Beth Mellow, Bookslut)
“The latest hidden gem uncovered by this publisher … There is more to the book than the unearthing of a remarkable tradition: Dones’ characters are vibrant and her portrait of life in the mountains and in Tirana, the capital, is vivid … Clarissa Botsford’s translation (from the Italian – Dones writes in Albanian and Italian) is elegant and sensitive.” (Jethro Soutar, The Independent)
“An engaging and absorbing novel that gives both an emotional experience and a good deal to think about.” (Emerald Street)
“The final sentence makes you want to jump up and cheer.” (Susan Osborne – Shiny New Books)
“A fascinating study in duality and blurred identity… A brave book which tackles big themes such as tradition and modernity, exile and belonging while never losing sight of the individual faced with life choices that are constantly opening up certain freedoms while closing the door on others.” (New Internationalist)
“Important notice: Elvira Dones’ Sworn Virgin (tr. Clarissa Botsford) is one of those books that once you stop reading you just can’t put it down […] Of all the books I’ve read for Women In Translation Month so far, there’s no doubt in my mind that Sworn Virgin is the most thought-provoking … Sworn Virgin emerges as a wholly fascinating account of gender roles … completely worth reading.’ (Meytal – Bibliobio)
“As entertaining as it is educational, Sworn Virgin takes readers on a fascinating journey into the heart of a seldom-explored set of strict traditions that are designed to allow for complete male domination. Dones handles the subject matter with grace, thoughtfully probing at larger questions of gender equality and familial obligation, and ultimately succeeds by never allowing her subject to see herself as a helpless victim of circumstance.” (Typographical Era)
“A gripping, metamorphic tale. The themes of culture, gender, identity and family are explored with real understanding and piercing authenticity in this tender and arrestingly original novel.” (Whichbook)
“A fascinating look at the tradition of sworn virgins in Albanian culture, a moving meditation on gender, identity, loyalty and family ties, and a cracking good story – all at the same time! Wonderful stuff.” (WoodsieGirlWrites)
‘Keen observations on the performance of gender, as well as a good deal of humor […] The interactions between cousins, at times tender and loving, at times cantankerous and fraught with misunderstandings, give this novel great momentum and allow the characters to fully come alive on the page.’ (Bitch Magazine)
“[Dones’] novel does not simply investigate a unique custom. Rather, it explores many binary oppositions—urban/rural, tradition/modernity, wealth/poverty, West/non-West, communism/capitalism, home/diaspora, male/female, body/soul—to reveal how sociopolitical forces mold individual lives. Ultimately, this spare but evocative novel portrays a woman who negotiates and finally reconciles those binaries to shape an identity that transcends history, tradition, and societal constraints.” (Michele Levy – World Literature Today)
“That a novel covering such weighty issues as communism, patriarchal oppression, sexual violence, immigration and gender identity manages to be so warm and enjoyable is a huge achievement… Apparently Dones is a popular and distinguished author in Albania. I really hope that means more of her work gets translated into English.” (Kate Gardner – Nose in a Book)
“Sworn Virgin was made to be translated…. It feels like Sworn Virgin was always intended to end up in English, that Hana is finally at home in the language she has always wanted to master…. Dones’ strangely unemotional rendition of a story of suffering works not only because we feel for her protagonist; it works because we feel the stories of other sworn virgins, of other oppressed women, of other “belle ragazze” whose lives have been derailed, whose language has been invaded. It works because Dones wrote this book in Italian, in the language of a nation that has systematically abused her own, and because Hana has emerged not intact (exactly not intact) but ready to live. (Caite Dolan-Leach – The Quarterly Conversation)
“Elvira Dones‘s engaging novel, Sworn Virgin (translated from Italian by Clarissa Botsford and regrettably the only Dones novel available in English), not only unpacks these fascinating gender questions, but transplants the issue between two nations. […] We are left with the consoling thought that no matter how traditional or boundary-breaking one’s temperament is, you can’t stop body and soul from expressing very specific desires on being alive.” (Ed Champion – Reluctant Habits)
“Fascinating reading. The word pictures of people and of those repressive climates; dictatorship, rural isolation and patriarchy; that condition them are set out in very compelling prose. If you have never been to rural Albania, reading this novel will transport you there and bring you back again safely. It would be well worth the journey.” (Michael Johnston – Akanos)
“Ms. Dones has a gift for slowly opening up her characters … Sworn Virgin is a fascinating novel, and highly recommended.” (Carolyn Oliver – Rosemary and Reading Glasses)
“Sworn Virgin is a punchy and poetic novel, which takes the reader into what is likely to be a totally unfamiliar world and makes it vivid and engaging.” (Thom Cuell – The Workshy Fop)
“Dones style is pared back and clean, letting the emotional honesty at the heart of our protagonists’ story shine through.” (Marie Claire Conlin – For Books’ Sake)
“Provocative, engaging and absolutely fascinating.” (LoveReading. co.uk)
English PEN Writers in Translation Award, 2013 Fondazione Carical Grinzane Cavour Award, Italy, 2008
“Elvira Dones is among the best of Albania’s writers, and her publication in English is excellent news” (Ismail Kadaré)
‘An intelligent and painful play on identity, and on the freedom of body and spirit’ (Lara Crinò – Repubblica Donne)
‘An unusual and beautiful Bildungsroman’ (Marilia Piccone – Stradanove)
‘Elvira Dones deals with issues at the heart of western civilisation today, such as migrant and gender identity, and the tormented relationships we may have with our bodies.’ (Liliana Moro – www.universitadelledonne.it)
SWORN VIRGIN, translated from the Italian by Clarissa Botsford, foreword by Ismail Kadare, And Other Stories, London & New York, May 2014
«Un roman choc… Impressionnant.» (Marianne Payot – L’Express)
«On sort de ce roman, quasi documentaire, le ventre noué. A diffuser dans toutes les casernes.» (Catherine Simon – Le Monde des Livres)“Mais si elle refuse l’enthousiasme des sauveurs, si elle remet en cause le sentimentalisme humanitaire, Elvira Dones ne sonne pas la charge contre l’interventionnisme occidental; son travail dresse simplement le constat de la douleur des autres, place avec justesse l’écriture de leur côté.” (Pierre Benetti – La Quinzaine littéraire)
“Un roman bref d’une folle intensité… Une chronique de guerre implacable… On pensait avoir tout lu des récits de guerre. Et voilà que surgit ce livre d’Elvira Dones…” (Alain Favarger – La Liberté)
«Ce n’est ni un roman sur la guerre, ni un roman de guerre. Ce roman, c’est carrément la guerre. […] Splendide.» (Roberto Saviano)
UNE PETITE GUERRE PARFAITE, traduit de l’italien par Leila Pailhès, Éditions Métailié, Paris, 2013. Pour en savoir plus, cliquez ici.
Mention spéciale “Coup de coeur” du Prix Littéraire des Jeunes Européens 2016
SOLE BRUCIATO (premio Latisana per il Nord-Est 2001; clicca qui per leggere le recensioni) torna sul mercato in versione ebook: in formato Kindle (Amazon) oppure in formato ePub in varie librerie online (Rizzoli, Deastore, Feltrinelli, Ultima Books, Omnia Buk, ebook.it, ecc.)
La trasposizione cinematografica di VERGINE GIURATA (premio Fondazione Carical – Grinzane Cavour 2008 / English PEN Writers in Translation Award 2013) è arrivata sul grande schermo. Il film, opera prima di Laura Bispuri (vincitrice del premio David di Donatello 2010 per il miglior cortometraggio) ha come protagonista Alba Rohrwacher (David di Donatello 2008 & 2009, European Shooting Star 2009, Nastro d’argento 2011) . Per l’occasione, Feltrinelli ha ripubblicato il romanzo, con la splendida Alba Rohrwacher in copertina.Shkrimtarja e vitit 2014, Panairi i Librit në Prishtinë, Kosovë, për romanin “Luftë e vogël e përkorë”.
“Jo një roman për luftën, as një roman lufte ku heronjtë veprojnë në kontekst militaresk. Jo, ky roman është drejtpërdrejt lufta. Është përqasja e luftës nëpërmjet syri të viktimës që nuk gjykon, nuk dënon, por u komunikon të gjithëve vizionin e vet. Është një shikim i kthjellët, klasik, i dhembshur, që nuk shtrembëron asgjë.”
(Roberto Saviano)
LUFTË E VOGËL E PËRKORË
parathënia: Roberto Saviano
përkthyer nga italishtja: Adrian Beshaj
rishikim e shqipërim: Elvira Dones
Botimet Dudaj, Tiranë, 2012
Gjendet në tregun ribotimi i romanit
HANA
(shqipëruar e botuar për herë të parë nga
Roland Sejko),
ribotuar nga botimet Dudaj.
Fitues i çmimit
Fondazione Carical – Grinzane Cavour 2008, Itali
