Helena Kadare: Writing is resurrection, time is insufficient

In the hotel that evokes memories of another time, in the city from which she keeps a medallion and many stories that were also transformed into a story, writer Helena Kadare has returned to the times, has revived a story of almost half a century. And according to her, writing is resurrection. "The work of writing is a wonderful therapy. Expressing what you think in solitude is a resurrection. I am not a psychologist, but all people who have bitterness in their souls should put their thoughts on paper," said Helena Kadare on Thursday night, at the "Azem Shkreli" festival. She also spoke about meeting Ismail Kadare, a letter from him that connected them forever, the decision to stay in his shadow, and a year without him she described as "time without a loved one." "Time is insufficient for all people...", she said

45 years ago, when the then “Metohija” was the most famous hotel in Peja, a delegation of Albanian writers led by Dritëro Agolli would visit this city. As if to give them a sign of the western city of Kosovo, the receptionist of the hotel – which is still famous in Peja, but with a different name – would give the guests a medallion to hang their keys on. That souvenir had a dancer engraved on it, probably a rugova dancer. This gift would also be accepted by the writer Helena Kadare, the widow of the world-famous Albanian writer, Ismail Kadare. 

On Thursday night, she remembered that moment. Found in the same hotel, Kadare also remembered that, inspired by that medallion, she wrote the story "The Medallion from Peja". She has revived a story that is almost half a century old. And according to her, writing is revival. This time in Peja, Helena Kadare was a guest of the international literary festival, "Azem Shkreli". The event that bears the name of the writer and leader of several cultural institutions has so far been known as the literary meetings, "Azem Shkreli".

Insufficient time and sadness in post-war Kosovo

In an environment of about 30 people, mostly retired women, Kadare spoke about her life, literature, and memories with her husband Ismail Kadare, who died last July. She values ​​time very much and, using herself as an example, says that in youth one does not know how to do this. The conversation with journalist Elion Kollçaku begins with her work – her best known – “Insufficient Time”. It is a biography of her and her family. But right from the start she shows that the Rugova writer Azem Shkreli was one of the most precious and beloved friends of the Kadare family. 

"Time is not enough for all people. If we do not do things every day and with dedication, time will never come. We must dominate time, not we. A calmer time never comes. The book 'Insufficient Time' includes my entire life with Ismail, even in the context of the communist era," said Kadare, who, shortly before the start of the conversation, removed her glasses. She indicated that the old worry was the unnatural separation of Albania with Kosovo. She dug a little into her memory and came to the conclusion that this is her fourth time in Peja. As is usually the case, nostalgia for past visits is great. She described the atmosphere of the hotel, where the event took place, as much warmer than several decades ago. After the Kosovo war, she would have a bad experience of her first visit to Peja. 

"After the war, when we came to Peja, it was a great sadness. When I looked at the children today, it was a miracle when I saw those beautiful and smart children. I said this is the real Kosovo. Don't let time pass in vain, because often the days pass in vain. When you are young, you don't understand this," said the writer who turns 21 on the 83st of this month. Her most famous works are: "A Difficult Birth", "A Woman from Tirana", "The Spouses", "Insufficient Time", "The Criminal from Cadiz". She has shown that she has always been characterized by a certain courage to say and write things that in families of the '50s and '60s were not made public.

"At night I read the novels my parents had forbidden me"

"I wrote honestly and openly about family quarrels from a young age, 18 years old, and I became enemies with half of the tribe who no longer spoke to me. I was a closed girl, because my parents were very conservative. I didn't go on excursions at all. At night I read novels that my parents had forbidden me. My father would tell me: 'Turn off the lights!' Others would say how badly they had raised this girl, because she brought up all the dirty things in the open," she recalled. 

In 1963, she would marry Ismail Kadare, at that time one of Albania's young writers with promising prospects. She has described her acquaintance with him as something not very common for the time. As a high school student, she sometimes wrote for "Zëri i rinisë" (Voice of Youth), and this publication of monistic Albania also went to Moscow, where Kadare was studying at the "Gorki" Institute.  

Letters from Ismail Kadare, parties and phone calls from high school

"Ismaili took the newspaper 'Voice of Youth' to Moscow and wrote me a letter saying he really liked that story. The whole high school celebrated the fact that I received a letter from Kadare," she said. 

When Kadare returned from Moscow, he would meet his future wife on the street. Ismail Kadare would thoroughly enjoy the two years he spent in the capital of the Soviet Union. He had received a good salary for his time there, due to the stories he published, and he would buy a camera along with a small studio to edit the footage he made. Some of his images as a young man in Moscow are even public. When he met his future wife on the streets of Tirana, he would propose to her that they watch his films together. And he would do so on the roof of his aunt's house where he was staying at the time. He would write her his phone number on her hand. 

"I had trouble finding a phone to call her, after she wrote the phone number on my hand. I went into the high school principal's office and called her," she said. 

Speaking about her conservative family, she added that her father had engaged her before sending her off to study, believing that this act would make her more secure. 

"From Tirana I wrote a long letter to my father. I told him that I did not love that man and I did not want to stay with him. At that time, it was not the time like it is today, to leave someone and abandon the decision of my parents. By nature, I was calm. But time after time I did things that were not liked by others," said Kadare. 

The writer has shown that it is difficult when both spouses do the same job. But she understood one thing early and correctly: That she was not even close to Ismail Kadare in literary creativity. 

"What he did was much superior to what I did. He was a complete stranger to the issue of family organization. I typed everything he wrote. I did this with great devotion. I willingly left myself in the shadow, dedicating myself to the work he was doing," Kadare said. On this occasion, he added that they had read each other's works and that the famous writer, when he did not like a part of his wife's stories, would just frown. 

She has described her limitations as naive, but also necessary. She has the disadvantage of not learning to drive or speak English. Without being able to drive, she said that she had no opportunity to be more practical, and without English, she lacked direct communication at many events where she was present. Conversations, according to her, are very significant and have great weight, but not when they are mediated by a translator. And she has placed part of the blame for the car on her husband. 
"Ismail used to tell me that you will take the wheel, you will dream of other things and you will have an accident," she confessed. Her literary stories have been translated into French, Greek and Dutch. 
"Not Enough Time" would take her 15 years to write, as she wanted to be accurate in her biography.

A year without the "beloved man" and therapy that is written down

She described the time of more than a year without her husband as a time without a loved one. According to her, death is a natural process and there is no other way. 

"Memories are very interesting. I don't have the strength to write a new book with these memories. The work of writing is a wonderful therapy. Expressing what you think in solitude is a resurrection. I am not a psychologist, but all people who have bitterness in their souls should put their thoughts on paper," said Kadare at the event, where almost a decade ago her husband was and accepted the "Azem Shkreli" award. In 2016, he was also declared an "Honorary Citizen" of Peja. 

"I am truly touched to be here today, in this hall, to receive the award that bears the name of my dear friend Azem Shkreli. With him we have shared joys, sorrows and disappointments, and more than that, we have shared joys," he said. It would be said that an incredible time has come. 

"It is truly an incredible feeling that in this country, at this time, we can think that a day will come when people from Albania will receive an award from Kosovo, or Albania will give an award to Albanians from Kosovo. And therein lies the miracle, that Kosovo has honor today, has honor for itself and has the honor to give this title to others", he had said. He had greatly appreciated the honor that Peja had given him. 

The organization named after writer Azem Shkreli aims to become a major festival. Several activities were held this year, while scholar and writer Sabri Hamiti was honored with the "Azem Shkreli" award on Wednesday. 

The Director of the Directorate of Culture, Xhenet Syka-Kelmendi, said that the goals are for this event to be ever bigger.  

"The international literary meetings, 'Azem Shkreli' this year have been formatted, making it a Festival. This year we have been greatly honored by the great lady of Albanian literature, Helena Kadare," she said shortly before the conversation began. 

Helena Kadare's connection with Peja in her writings takes place in "The Medallion from Peja". She had hung the keys to her house on that medallion and as a child, her daughter Besiana Kadare had asked her about the engraving. She would explain to her that there was a dancer from Peja there and that this city is in Kosovo. And then she would explain a little about Kosovo. This story is found in the book "The Voice of the Lost Man", published by the "Buzuku" publishing house. Recently, Kadare is organizing some later stories and about 30 percent of the previous ones for a new book. 

"And, the 'Medallion from Peja' is also part of that," she said in Peja.