a brief biographical description
Ervin Hatibi was born in Tirana, Albania, on May 31st 1974. During his childhood he was enrolled in acting courses and lent his voice as a child-actor in the radio dramas of the Albanian Public State Radio. At the age of 14, Ervin Hatibi published his first poems in the literary pages of the main newspapers of the epoch. His first poetry collection “Përditë Shoh Qiellin”, Tirana, Albania, prefaced by Ismail Kadare, was published in 1989 when he was only 15 and was widely acclaimed by the critics. At that time, following the sudden notoriety of the young author, the National Film Studios of Albania “Shqiperia e Re”, produced a documentary film on his works, entitled “The 15 Year Old Poet”.
His first painting exhibition was held in spring 1991 at the National Gallery of Fine Arts. In 1992, while finishing up his studies at the School of Foreign Languages “Asim Vokshi” in Tirana, Ervin Hatibi co-founded the literary avant-garde magazine “e per-7-shme”. In the ensuing years, he wrote extensively on matters of social and literary import, and also actively took part in youth movements, which preceded the democratic changes in his country. He wrote memorable lyrics for well-known pop singers and bands in Tirana, and had his own share of rock scene with his band, as a front man.
Having finished his studies in Albanian Literature & Language at the University of Tirana, and before moving to Jordan with the purpose of studying the Arabic language and civilisation, Ervin Hatibi published his second and most notorious poetry collection “6”, Tirana, 1995. “6”, immediately became a literary milestone in Albanian literature. From that point on his poetry was published in various anthologies on major Albanian poets: Anthology of Albanian Poetry, in Macedonian, Macedonia, 1998, Anthology of Contemporary Italian and Albanian Poetry, in Italian & Albanian, Italy, 1998, Three Albanian Poets, in Spanish, Spain, 2003, Frightening and Beautiful, in Albanian, Kosovo, 2003.
His most recent collection of poems, “Pasqyra e Lëndës” (Table of Contents), came out in 2004 in Albania.
Along the years Ervin Hatibi’s writing has progressively intensified in the genre of essays. He has periodically written and published articles and essays in all major newspapers and magazines in Albanian language: the leading Albanian newspaper “Shekulli” and the historical Albanian Macedonian magazine “Lobi”, but not only. “Bota Shqiptare”, in Italy and “Fjala”, in Albania, have also frequently been tribunes of his writings. Ervin Hatibi has written in length on issues related to culture, religion and arts and has participated in writing, but not only, in the social and the political debates of our complex times. By end of the year 2000, he became the editor in chief of “Drita Islame” Magazine (Light of Islam), the official magazine of the Muslim Community of Albania, a position from which he resigned in 2003.
His collection of essays, “Republick of Albanania”, Albania, 2005, is a colourful collage of some of his best essays written during this past decade.
As the television era has continuously gained more and more terrain, Ervin Hatibi has growingly participated in important interventions and debates on contemporary issues in relation to social matters, and more particularly in culture and religion. For the most part, the debates and the interventions have been conducted by leading Albanian television channels, such as “Klan”, “Arbëria”, “Top Channel” and “Vizion Plus”, but many of them have been led by the leading television channels of Greece, Austria, Italy, etc., and also by important news broadcasting agencies, such as Associated Press, Reuters, and Radio France International, BBC among many others.
In the meanwhile, what has particularly enchanted Ervin Hatibi during all these years has been his growing need to communicate through painting. Although Ervin Hatibi’s first collages coincide with his first poems, painting remained his hidden mistress for several years. Upon his return from Jordan, painting progressively started to enflame his imagination and became a strong mean of communication. These last years have been unprecedented in his painting career. Ervin Hatibi has shown in remarkable exhibitions, such as: “Albanie, Printemps-Eternitée 2003”, Paris 2003, “Pop-Ferman”, Ferrara 2004 and “f&rman”, Skopje 2004, “fast forwarding fermans”, Istanbul 2008, and only very recently he was called upon by the National Gallery of Fine Arts and the Ministry of Culture of Albania to curate the yearly international visual arts contest “Onufri ‘07”, Albania’s most important visual art event, which takes place in the premises of the National Gallery of Fine Arts in Tirana.
His first painting exhibition was held in spring 1991 at the National Gallery of Fine Arts. In 1992, while finishing up his studies at the School of Foreign Languages “Asim Vokshi” in Tirana, Ervin Hatibi co-founded the literary avant-garde magazine “e per-7-shme”. In the ensuing years, he wrote extensively on matters of social and literary import, and also actively took part in youth movements, which preceded the democratic changes in his country. He wrote memorable lyrics for well-known pop singers and bands in Tirana, and had his own share of rock scene with his band, as a front man.
Having finished his studies in Albanian Literature & Language at the University of Tirana, and before moving to Jordan with the purpose of studying the Arabic language and civilisation, Ervin Hatibi published his second and most notorious poetry collection “6”, Tirana, 1995. “6”, immediately became a literary milestone in Albanian literature. From that point on his poetry was published in various anthologies on major Albanian poets: Anthology of Albanian Poetry, in Macedonian, Macedonia, 1998, Anthology of Contemporary Italian and Albanian Poetry, in Italian & Albanian, Italy, 1998, Three Albanian Poets, in Spanish, Spain, 2003, Frightening and Beautiful, in Albanian, Kosovo, 2003.
His most recent collection of poems, “Pasqyra e Lëndës” (Table of Contents), came out in 2004 in Albania.
Along the years Ervin Hatibi’s writing has progressively intensified in the genre of essays. He has periodically written and published articles and essays in all major newspapers and magazines in Albanian language: the leading Albanian newspaper “Shekulli” and the historical Albanian Macedonian magazine “Lobi”, but not only. “Bota Shqiptare”, in Italy and “Fjala”, in Albania, have also frequently been tribunes of his writings. Ervin Hatibi has written in length on issues related to culture, religion and arts and has participated in writing, but not only, in the social and the political debates of our complex times. By end of the year 2000, he became the editor in chief of “Drita Islame” Magazine (Light of Islam), the official magazine of the Muslim Community of Albania, a position from which he resigned in 2003.
His collection of essays, “Republick of Albanania”, Albania, 2005, is a colourful collage of some of his best essays written during this past decade.
As the television era has continuously gained more and more terrain, Ervin Hatibi has growingly participated in important interventions and debates on contemporary issues in relation to social matters, and more particularly in culture and religion. For the most part, the debates and the interventions have been conducted by leading Albanian television channels, such as “Klan”, “Arbëria”, “Top Channel” and “Vizion Plus”, but many of them have been led by the leading television channels of Greece, Austria, Italy, etc., and also by important news broadcasting agencies, such as Associated Press, Reuters, and Radio France International, BBC among many others.
In the meanwhile, what has particularly enchanted Ervin Hatibi during all these years has been his growing need to communicate through painting. Although Ervin Hatibi’s first collages coincide with his first poems, painting remained his hidden mistress for several years. Upon his return from Jordan, painting progressively started to enflame his imagination and became a strong mean of communication. These last years have been unprecedented in his painting career. Ervin Hatibi has shown in remarkable exhibitions, such as: “Albanie, Printemps-Eternitée 2003”, Paris 2003, “Pop-Ferman”, Ferrara 2004 and “f&rman”, Skopje 2004, “fast forwarding fermans”, Istanbul 2008, and only very recently he was called upon by the National Gallery of Fine Arts and the Ministry of Culture of Albania to curate the yearly international visual arts contest “Onufri ‘07”, Albania’s most important visual art event, which takes place in the premises of the National Gallery of Fine Arts in Tirana.