DALLAS, TX, August 07, 2022 /24-7PressRelease/ -- As part of an ongoing mission of cultural diplomacy through literature, Dr. Gjekë Marinaj, PhD, has been awarded two significant prizes in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. In May 2022, Marinaj, an Albanian-American poet, writer, translator and literary critic based in the Dallas metro area, personally received the awards while taking part in literary and cultural events in the republics of Kazakhstan and Romania.
Kazakhstan: Award celebrates Marinaj's contribution to modern world literature
In the city of Turkestan in Kazakhstan, the city major's advisor Ansar Abdikulov presented Marinaj with an award honoring his writing and the scope of his contribution to world literary culture. The award presentation took place at an event hosted in the assembly hall of the regional "Uly Dala Ely" museum.
Zhibek Iskakova, editor-in-chief of "Wonderful Kazakhstan-2050" magazine, noted, "Gjekë Marinai is the poet the world is waiting for. I believe that there is no respect equal to his contribution to modern world literature. …He is indeed a poet who has conquered the world with his creativity."
In accepting the prize, Marinaj said, "Once again, this event and this award are evidence that true literature has the magic power to bring us together from one continent to another, from one country to another, from one culture to another, from one love for humanity to another. This honor has a deep meaning for me because it comes from Kazakhstan, a land where it seems like there is more oxygen released into the air by literary words than from all the leaves of the trees. And it's a pleasure to have a cup of fresh air and a glass of cool poetry with you tonight, in tribute to our shared love for literature and to all the people in the world who can benefit from it."
Romania: Paul Iorgovici memorial prize
Marinaj's Romanian prize, named in honor of the Romanian writer Paul Iorgovici (1764-1808), was awarded by the County Council of Caraș-Severin, the most important administrative and political institution in Romania's Banat Mountains region, through the Caraș-Severin County Library, the council's top literary institution. The Caraș-Severin County Library also bears Iorgovici's name.
The Romanian award, given to major figures in the field of culture, literature and art from Romania and abroad, paid tribute to Marinaj's lifetime of literary activity.
The award was presented by library manager Prof. Clara Maria Constantin, who called it an "unexpected and great honor for all the residents of Caraș-Severin County to host a person of his caliber, to whom the planet is indebted for his work."
Speaking at the event, Prof. Dr. Cornel Ungureanu, the president of the Timisoara branch of the Association of Libraries of Romania, emphasized the writer's arrival as a "historical event" that "puts us on the European literary map."
Marinaj called the Romanian award "one of the biggest surprises of my professional life and one of the greatest honors of my career." The writer noted that Romania is a "country that has proven throughout its history that its soul has the most perfect natural nourishments to cultivate great literature and art, a land that Vasile Alecsandri, Mihai Eminescu, Constantin Lucaci and Ana Blandiana called home throughout their lives."
"Perhaps at a higher level, though," Marinaj said, "I am extremely grateful to receive this award from the County Council of Caraș-Severin and its famous County Library. And to receive an award signed by Prof. Clara Maria Constantin and that says 'Diploma 'Paul Iorgovici' in Honorem Gjekë Marinaj, USA,' is truly an unbelievable honor on its own. Above all, to have my name appear next to that of Paul Iorgovici — a great writer and visionary man who in 1799 published an early Romanian grammar in Buda — makes me wonder what will I have to do as a teacher, writer and poet to live up to this."
Dr. Gjekë Marinaj is an Albanian- American poet, writer, world literature scholar and translator, and literary critic. He is the founder of Protonism Theory, a form of literary criticism that aims to promote peace and positive thinking. According to the English Wikipedia and many other American and international media outlets, Marinaj has received multiple nominations for the Nobel Prize in Literature
Marinaj has published more than twenty-five books of poetry, journalism, criticism and translation. His works have been translated and published in more than a dozen languages. He holds the title of Nation's Ambassador for his native Albania. He is director of Mundus Artium Press and editor of the journal Mundus Artium. He teaches at Richland College in Dallas, Texas.
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