For the second consecutive year, we were delighted to gather for this special cultural evening, warmly hosted by the Embassy of Kosovo in London, celebrating the spirit of Kosovo–Albania fraternal cooperation.
As part of an ongoing cultural initiative dedicated to promoting prominent figures in Albanian literature and culture, this year’s programme continued with two distinguished authors whose lives and works reflect the richness and diversity of contemporary Albanian writing.
The evening highlighted the life and work of Mrs. Valbona Ismaili Luta.
Born and raised in Prishtina, Kosovo, she published her first poems as a teenager in the student newspaper Bota e Re. Living in London since 1993, her poetry has appeared in numerous anthologies in both Albanian and English. In 2002, she was featured in a special issue of Index on Censorship, the British organisation dedicated to promoting freedom of expression.
Mrs. Valbona serves as a board member of Exiled Writers Ink, where she regularly organises literary evenings with writers in London. Over the years, she has worked as the London correspondent for the Albanian programme of Radio France International and has contributed to the magazine Teuta for more than two decades. She is also the founder of FLO – the First International Literature Festival in Orllan, Kosovo.
The programme also celebrated the life and work of Mr. Durim Taçi.
Having studied philology and cinematography in Tirana and philosophy in Milan, Taçi is a bilingual author and translator of numerous works into Albanian. His novel Codice Kanun (2016) was awarded the Montefiore Prize, while The Lake in the Middle of the Sea received the Fishta Prize in 2022. He was the winner of the 2021 National Literature Prize for his short story collection From Another Door, later published in Italian. After many years in Italy, he returned to Albania in 2024 and now works at the Centre for Art Studies at the Academy of Sciences of Albania. During the evening, he presented his latest book, Lakimi.
The event was organised in collaboration between British Albanian Culture & Arts Association (BACA) and the Albanian Reading Club “Book Lovers” England, and was conceptually led and moderated by Mrs. Anila Kadija.
Held on Friday, 19 September 2025, from 18:00 to 20:00 at the Embassy of Kosovo, 8 John Street, London WC1N 2EB, the evening brought together members of the Albanian community, literature enthusiasts, and distinguished guests for an inspiring celebration of Albanian literary voices and cultural dialogue.
