'Giant of international literature' Ismail Kadare dies aged 88

Harvill Secker and Canongate have paid tribute to author Ismail Kadare, who has died aged 88. 

“We are saddened to hear of the death of our author Ismail Kadare,” Harvill Secker said. “Born in 1936 in the mountain town of Gjirokaster, near Albania’s Greek border, Kadare was the country’s best-known writer.”  

Translations of his novels have appeared in more than 40 countries and 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.   

Harvill Secker said: “A novelist, poet, essayist, screenwriter and playwright, since the appearance of The General of the Dead Army [Harvill Secker] in 1963 Kadare created works that made up a panorama of Albanian history linked by a constant meditation on the nature and human consequences of dictatorship.  

“His early books brought him into frequent conflict with the Albanian authorities, and in 1990 he sought political asylum in France, in later years splitting his time between Paris and Tirana.” 

Harvill Secker’s publishing director Liz Foley said of the 88-year-old author: “We have been honoured to publish Ismail Kadare’s work – most recently with his gripping novel about the relationship between writers and tyranny, A Dictator Calls, translated by John Hodgson. A giant of international literature, many of his works are already considered classics and will continue to be read far into the future.” 

Canongate said: “Kadare was the inaugural winner of the International Booker Prize among many other plaudits, and his work is testament to his brilliance and subtlety of thought. 

“He was one of the great writers of our age and we’ve no doubt that his books will live on for a very long time.”