Ismail Kadare, born in 1936 in Albania, is the country’s best-known poet and novelist.

Translations of his novels have appeared in more than forty countries. He was awarded the inaugural Man Booker International Prize in 2005, the Jerusalem Prize in 2015, the Park Kyong-ni Prize in 2019 and the Neustadt Prize in 2020.

Since the appearance of The General of the Dead Army in 1965, Kadare has published scores of stories and novels that make up a panorama of Albanian history linked by a constant meditation on the nature and human consequences of dictatorship. His works, particularly The Monster and The Palace of Dreams, brought him into frequent conflict with the authorities, and in 1990 he sought political asylum in France.

 Ismail Kadare

All nominated books

Book cover of A Dictator Calls by Ismail Kadare depicting a portrait of Stalin painted in red.
The Traitor's Niche