Petraq Zoto

Life

Petraq Zoto was born in Ziçisht, in Devoll region, in southeastern Albania. He started writing prose at an early age, according to Zoto himself "he didn't even remember exactly when". At one of the literary meetings organized in his area, he met with the Albanian writer Sterjo Spasse. Spasse's words "Lexo sa më shumë, dhe provo të shkruash!" (Read as much as you can, and try writing!) had a significant impact on him, increased his curiosity, and forged his will of becoming a writer. Zoto writing on the impressions of his encounter with Spasse was sent to the newspaper Zëri i Rinisë (Voice of Youth), but wasn't published. Nevertheless, he continued writing short stories. He sent his first collection of stories to the other Albanian writer, Sotir Andoni who was from the same town, who helped with further instructions on how to improve the technique of story-writing. With the membership and active frequentation of the literary class of the Culture Palace (Alb: Pallati i Kulturës) in Korçë, came a big jump in the quality of his works. There he came in contact and befriended other future writers as Teodor Laço and Koçi Petriti.
His first published story was in the almanac Korça letrare (Literary Korçë), selected by the writer Andon Mara. Another one would come published in the Pionieri magazine, later followed by the literary section of Ylli magazine, and so on.
His first collection of stories for young readers Tirka, which was run in the national yearly competition of literature in 1966, ending up third. At this time Zoto would leave his town and move to Korçë, where he spent the most important part of his life. There he worked, created, and was affirmed as a writer and director in the culture field. For over 30 years he served as director of the Culture Palace in Korçë, followed by the Korçë Theater, until 1990 when he was fired on direct orders of one of the politburo members, due to a recital of Lindita Theodhori which was considered "too modernist". He was also chairman of the local branch of the League of Writers and Artists, which comprised approximately 120 writers and poets as members. Inspired by the patriotic work of Themistokli Gërmenji, Mihal Grameno, Jovan Kosturi, Sevasti Qiriazi, and others, he published in 1981 a collection of historical stories.
Since 2000, Zoto lived in Tirana. During 2001-2005, he worked as editor of the "Mësonjëtorja" publishing house there. He continued to write till his last moments, and died in 2015 in Tirana.

Profile

Zoto's moto was "The literature is not a battlefield, where the writers struggle to grab the trophies from one another, but a huge field where each one works his own parcel, waters it, takes care of it, and at the end harvests its desired fruits. So, each one has his/her own part, can contribute, in other words, introduce a new literary value with every new book". Zoto created real personages based on his own personal experience, also on his life events, his ancestors, and influenced by the elite of the writers of Korçë region, such as Sterjo Spasse, Dritero Agolli, Sotir Andoni, Vasil Xhaçka, Teodor Laço, Vangjush Ziko, Petraq Kolevica, Petraq Samsuri, etc.

As one of the pioneers of the short stories genre of the Albanian literature, he is established as a strong narrator, who possessed the ability and literary strength of creating realistic personages with a sharp sense of both "the possible" and "the unpredictable". He always focused on difficult subjects, transforming them into stories which transmit hope and positivism.

Work

Collections of stories

Novels

Recognition

Zoto's work has received several awards, and prizes in Albanian national competitions: