IRMA KURTI

 

My Anima, A Feather

 

It was just a quick embrace, like

the elusive flight of a butterfly

brushing in an instant your hair.

 

It was just a warm hug inside a

body that trembled like a leaf,

that anonymous world, which

was a thousand times much

more familiar than my house.

 

It was nothing more than a hug,

but who knows why—in those

moments, my anima felt so light,

like a feather that ascends to the sky.

 

To Be Loved, To Be Hated Again

 

You recall of me details,

secret and unexpressed desires,

my travels, my hidden dreams,

musical notes, famous names.

 

You remember my jokes

that make you laugh still;

my passions, my insomnia,

my emotions, my fears.

 

Many doubts and delusions

we’ve faced on the way.

Surely, we’ll meet one more time—

to be loved, to be hated again.

 

The Naked Doll

 

It doesn’t seem true: in a few days

the keys of my apartment I’ll have.

As fragmented echoes, the memories

do not leave me alone for a second.

 

My childhood dream to have a nice

and lovely house wakes me up,

with a large room for all my toys

and windows caressed by the sun.

 

But I did not even have the toys

except a very little and naked doll,

whom I dressed only in my dreams,

scared in bed it slept with me.

 

Over the passing of months, years,

the yen approached, then vanished;

it took refuge in my lines and hair,

like this, we both grew old together.

 

My childhood – that naked doll,

I’ve placed in a corner of a suitcase,

I’ll bring it with me to the new house

covered ... with love and affection.

 

IRMA KURTI

 

IRMA KURTI is an Albanian poet, writer, lyricist, journalist, and translator and has been writing since she was a child. She is a naturalized Italian and lives in Bergamo, Italy. All her books are dedicated to the memory of her beloved parents, Hasan Kurti and Sherife Mezini, who have supported and encouraged every step of her literary path. In 1980, her poem “To my homeland” received the first prize in the national competition for the 35th anniversary edition of the magazine Pionieri. In 1989, she won the second prize in the national competition organized by Radio Tirana celebrating the 45th anniversary of the liberation of Albania. Kurti has won numerous literary prizes and awards in Albania, Italy, Switzerland, USA, Philippines, Lebanon and China. She was awarded the Universum Donna International Prize IX Edition 2013 for Literature and received a lifetime nomination as an Ambassador of Peace by the University of Peace, Italian Switzerland. In 2020, she became the honorary president of WikiPoesia, the encyclopedia of poetry. In 2021, she was awarded the title of Liria (Freedom) by the Italian-Albanian community in Italy. She received the Leonardo da Vinci and Giacomo Leopardi prizes from the Chimera Arte Contemporanea Cultural Association of Lecce. The same association also honored her with the European Ambassador Award and named her the Best Poet of the Year in 2022. In 2022, she was also nominated as the Albanian ambassador to the International Academic Award of Contemporary Literature Seneca of the Academy of Philosophical Arts and Sciences, Bari. That same year, she was awarded the title of Mother Foundress and Lady of the Order of Dante Alighieri by the Republic of Poets. She received the Grazia Deledda medal and diploma of merit from the National Committee of WikiPoesia on the 150th anniversary of the birth of the great Italian poet. In 2023 she was awarded a Career Award from the Universum Academy Switzerland. She also won the prestigious 2023 Naji Naaman's literary prize for complete work. Irma Kurti is a member of the jury for several literary competitions in Italy. She is also a translator for the Ithaca Foundation in Spain. Irma Kurti has published 29 books in Albanian, 26 in Italian, 15 in English, and two in French. She has written approximately 150 lyrics for adults and children. She has also translated 20 books by different authors, and all of her own books into Italian and English. Irma Kurti is one of the most translated and published Albanian poets. Her books have been translated and published in 16 countries.