The President of the Republic of Albania, Bamir Topi, presented the “Grand Master” Award to poet, author and translator Nikos Katsalidas on Wednesday, who hails from Ano Lesinitsa of Sarandë.
The new distinction of Katsalidas’ work is reflective of his contribution to Greek and Albanian Literature, since he is considered to be one of the few Greek minority poets that can employ both languages to express himself on paper.
In Albania, Mr. Katsalidas is deemed one of the most recognized and most productive figures of Modern Literature. In fact, his overall work has earned him an honorable position in the recently published Encyclopedic Lexicon of the Science Academy of Albania.
The work of Mr. Katsalidas consists of thirty collections of poems, one novel and a short-story collection. He has also translated several Greek works into Albanian, including the complete works of Nobel laureate Odysseas Elytis. For this particular translation Mr. Katsalidas has been honored with the “Silver Pen” Award by the Ministry of Culture of Albania in 2003.
Up until 2011 he served as the Minister for the Office of the Prime Minister of Albania, in matters relating to Human Rights and Minorities. He has also served for many years as a cultural attaché of the Embassy of Albania to Athens.
Mr. Katsalidas is 63 years old and currently works and lives in Athens.
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