Book promotion by Besa Myftiu
Kosovo National Library | 27 September 2026
Moderated by Ilire Zajmi
Review by Shqipe Malushi
An elegant woman in a hat entered the small amphitheater of the Kosovo National Library and quietly placed her books on the table. I did not yet know Besa Myftiu, but by the end of the hour, I felt I had walked through a part of her life.
Born in Tirana and based in Geneva, Besa has written novels, poetry and essays, including Rrëfime nga Vendet e Harruara (Stories from Forgotten Lands) and Drejt së Pamundurës (Toward the Impossible). That afternoon, she presented the Albanian edition of Love in the Time of Communism, a novel in which three women stranded at a Rome airport share memories of love, family and youth in communist Albania.
Besa made those years vivid with a story of her own. To meet a young man, she recalled, a girl might borrow beautiful clothes, ask a friend to escort her so her parents would not suspect, take hidden streets to avoid the neighbors, and still have only an hour before returning home. By then, she said with a smile, the handsome prince could seem almost an illusion.
She read poetry and played songs by her daughter, Elina Duni, the Albanian-Swiss singer and composer whose music carries Albanian folk traditions into jazz. The audience recognized the songs, and the room seemed to grow warmer with every note.
With Ilire Zajmi’s thoughtful moderation, the afternoon became intimate and deeply moving. Besa spoke with such openness and grace that her stories seemed to leave the pages and sit among us. I came to hear about a book. I left carrying the voices of women who found ways to love, laugh and dream even when life asked them to be silent
