Albanian Authors

Helena KADARE

Helena Kadare (b. 1943), also known as Elena Kadare or Elena Gushi-Kadare, was born in Fier in central Albania. She studied literature at the University of Tirana and worked in journalism and the publishing industry. Kadare is the author of numerous short stories and of the first full novel ever to have been published in Albanian by a woman: Një lindje e vështirë, Tirana 1970 (A difficult birth). She is married to author Ismail Kadare and moved with him to Paris in 1990, where her novel Një grua nga Tirana, Tirana 1994 (A woman from Tirana) appeared in French translation.