The book’s translator and former Polish ambassador to Albania, Marek Jeziorski.
TIRANA, May 16, 2023 – One of the most famous novels of renowned Albanian author Ismail Kadare is now available to Polish readers through the translation of Marek Jeziorski, Poland’s former ambassador to Albania.
Jeziorski, who spent more than 30 years as a Polish diplomat, including as ambassador to Tirana from 2012 to 2016, used his deep knowledge of Albanian to bring Karade to his fellow Poles.
Jeziorski is also a co-author, with Jerzy Wiśniewski, of the Polish-Albanian and Albanian-Polish Dictionary. An associate of the Albanian Institute for International Studies, Jeziorski was decorated “For Special Civil Merits” by the President of the Republic of Albania in 2016.
The Jeziorski translation of Kadare’s book has been published by the Wydawnictwo Akademickie SEDNO Publishing House, an independent academic and literary publishing company established in 2011. Parallel to scholarly publications, it has literary and non-fiction programs – books by Polish contemporary authors and translations from different languages: English, French, German, Russian, Slovene, Croat, Serb, Bosnian and most recently Albanian.
The publishing house tends to focus on important literary achievements, on books by established writers and young, ambitious beginners. Its books have a nationwide distribution and get reviews in professional literary journals, internet magazines and radio programs.
“Chronicle in Stone” (“Kronikë në gur” in Albanian) is a masterpiece by Kadare, Albania’s best internationally known writer and winner of several international literary awards. First published in Albanian in 1971, and 16 years later in English translation, it describes life in a small Albanian city during World War II.
