Kasëm Trebeshina, a poet, prose writer, playwright, and essayist, was born in Berat. He interrupted his studies at the Elbasan Normal School to join the ranks of the Anti-Fascist National Liberation War in 1942. Trebeshina began his higher education at the “Ostrovski” Theater Institute in Leningrad but did not finish his studies. His disagreements with the leadership of the Labor Party of Albania and his opposition to the direction intended for literature and the arts led to his imprisonment on multiple occasions, as well as the revocation of his right to publish. His “Memorandum,” addressed to Enver Hoxha on October 5, 1953, denounced the concentration of power in the hands of the leader and criticized the imposition of socialist realism in Albanian culture. For ideological reasons, Trebeshina’s work began to be published only in the 1990s. Following 1991, he published several notable works, including “Stina e stinëve” (“Season of Seasons”) (novella, 1991), “Legjenda e asaj që iku” (“Legend of What Is Gone”) (stories, 1992), and “Koha tani, vendi këtu” (“Time Now, Place Here”) (stories, 1993), among others. Kasëm Trebeshina’s work serves as a rebellion against a reality in which everything is turned upside down and functions according to illogical premises. He defends the individual, whose alienation was intended both from reality and from art. His extensive and diverse body of work spans numerous literary genres and styles, exhibiting rich and original artistic discourse. Even though part of it remains unpublished, Trebeshina’s work constitutes one of the most interesting voices in post-war Albanian literature. He passed away in 2017.
(In the photo: Kasëm Trebeshina)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 3 , Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2009, page 2746-2747.
Photo: © https://abcnews.al/shuhet-ne-moshen-91-vjecare-schriktari-kasem-trebeshina/
Graphic processing: AHCF
