Writer, translator and lecturer Jonila Godole has been awarded the ‘High Honor Decoration’ for her work promoting Austrian culture in Albania.
She received the award this week from Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen at a ceremony held at the residence of the Austrian Ambassador to Albania, HE Christian Steiner. During the ceremony, Steiner expressed his country’s appreciation for Godole’s many years of work, spreading Austrian spirit and culture. He also commended her work as a lecturer, civil society activist, translator and writer.
During her career, Godole has translated a number of works by Austrian authors into Albanian, including books by Robert Musil, Rainer Maria Rilke, Thomas Bernhard, Arthur Schnitzler, Marlen Haushofer, Werner Schwab, and others.
She also authored an original work, entitled “Der Sandmann” which was previously honoured by the Austrian Foreign Ministry and PEN Club in 2010.
When accepting the award, Godole said: “this appreciation speaks volumes about the importance Austria attaches to culture and intercultural exchange, because it is only through these that long-term cooperation bridges can be built between people.”
She added that Austrian writers who have visited Tirana since 2013, as well as the International Festival of Literature, have helped the country to “get out of its cultural isolation” where she says Albania has remained since the fall of Communism.
Godole was one of the first post-communist Albanian journalists and became prominent during the 1990s. She studied and lived in Germany between 1998 and 2005 before returning to Albania and working as a lecturer at the Department of Journalism and Communication at the University of Tirana. She also works as the director of the Institute for Democracy, Media, and Culture (IDMC).
