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Within these pages, entitled "Bekimi I Nënës, A Mother's Blessing," Jack Hirschman and Idlir Azizaj present a translation of Jusef Gërvalla's poetry. This is the first time this collection, originally published by the Naim Frashëri Publishing House, in Tirana, Albania in 1983, is translated in the English Language. In 1983, a year after the original publication in his native Kosovo Albanian, Jusuf Gërvalla, his brother Bardhosh, and comrade Kadri Zeka were allegedly murdered by the Serbian secret service in their exile in Germany. Gërvalla was known as a journalist and a musician as well as a poet, novelist, and founder of the Marxist-Leninist group, the National Movement for the Liberation of Kosovo. For the first time, Jusuf Gërvalla's poetry, including selections from his three books: They Fly and Fall, Green Stork, and Sacred Marks, can be shared by the english speaking population.
About the author
Jusuf Gërvalla (October 1, 1943 - January 18, 1982) was a Kosovo Albanian activist, writer, musician, and the founder of the Marxist-Leninist group, the National Movement for the Liberation of Kosovo. On January 17, 1982, Gërvalla along with his brother Bardhosh Gërvalla, and fellow activist Kadri Zeka, were assassinated in Stuttgart, allegedly by Yugoslav secret service. His murder caused outrage among Albanians and abroad and led to an increased intensity in Albanian nationalism and hostility to Yugoslav control of Kosovo. Jack Hirschman is an emeritus poet laureate of San Francisco, a member of the revolutionary poets brigade, and the Leage of Revolutionizing for a New America. He has translated Albanian poetry since 1982. Idlir Azizaj was born in Vlora, Albania in 1970. He studied in Concordia College in Minnesotta and holds a degree in philosophy from the University of Paris, where he lives. He's authored two books of poetry and seven novels. This year, his book of stories The Shakespeare Riots won the National Book Award in Albania.
