Dritero Agolli

Dritëro Agolli was born on October 13, 1931 in Menkulas, a village in the Devoll District near Korçë. He finished high school in Gjirokastër, a school with a long tradition. He continued his studies at the Faculty of Arts in Leningrad, Soviet Union. He worked for a long time as a journalist in the daily newspaper Zëri i Popullit (The People's Voice) and for many years he was the chairman of the League of Writers and Artists of Albania. For 30 years in a row, Dritëro Agolli was elected a deputy in the Albanian Parliament. His literary work is very rich in genres and types: poetry, poems, stories, novels, dramas, film scripts, etc. Agolli won several prizes and other honors. Some of his most important works have been translated in the West and in the East. [1](^1^) [2](^2^) [3](^3^) [4](^4^) Agolli entered Albanian literature (the 60s) as a protagonist, changing the dimension of its future. In his work, Agolli placed himself as a protagonist of the peasant and shepherd, the villager and the student, the highlander and the lowlander. Agolli became the poet of the land and love, the writer of philosophy and human pain. His literary work created the new tradition of Albanian literature. It makes us feel dignified in front of the great world. As a great writer of a "small language", he is as dear to his fellow readers as he is in the metropolises of world culture. Agolli and his literary generation (the 60s) did not appear with any new poetics, although there was much discussion about rhyme and rhythm, free verse and regular verse, the "strictness" of poetry. More than his creative experience, rather than theoretical treatises, he radically changed the tradition of Albanian versification. Agolli appeared in literature as an author with high demands for poetry. He aimed for a more special poetry, with more individuality. Agolli created the poetry of "I", as opposed to the poetry of "we", which was written "to unite the masses". Agolli created a new model of versification in problems and literary craftsmanship, combining naturally the traditional values of poetry with new ways of poetic expression. The simplicity of communication, the universal messages and the open expression of sensitivity are the strong pillars on which his poetry rests. In his prose, Agolli brought innovations not only in the narrative structure, but also in the gallery of his characters. [2](^2^)