Elvira Dones was born in Durres (Albania) and raised in Tirana, the state capital. At the age of ten, Elvira writes a “book” (a dozen pages or so) that she decides to title “A Novel”. At sixteen she starts doing television shows. In ‘88 she leaves her country – at the time a Stalinist dictatorship – for Switzerland. She publishes her first real novel, Dashuri e huaj (No baggage) in 1997. During her time in Switzerland, Elvira writes seven novels, two collections of short stories, a few screenplays; she also directs and produces documentary films. Married and a mother of two, she now lives in the Washington D.C. suburbs and divides her time between the US, Switzerland, Italy and Albania. She considers the Balkans her cradle, daughter and son her house. Living with no baggage is her beloved, perennial human condition.

Books:

VERGINE GIURATA, novel (original: Italian), Feltrinelli Publisher, October 2007
*** “Fondazione Carical Grinzane Cavour 2008″ Award ***
(in Albanian:
HANA, Sejko publishing house, Elbasan, 2007;
in Polish:
ZAPRZYSIEZONA DZIEWICA, DodoEditor Publisher, Krakow, autumn 2010)

MË PAS HESHTJA, novel (original: Albanian), Sejko Publishing House, Elbasan 2004
(in Italian:
I MARI OVUNQUE, Interlinea, Novara, 2007)

I LOVE TOM HANKS (PËRRALLA MODERNE), short stories (original: Albanian), Sejko publishing house, Elbasan, 2002

DITË E BARDHË E FYER, novel (original: Albanian), Sejko publishing house, Elbasan, 2001
(in Italian:
BIANCO GIORNO OFFESO, Interlinea, Novara 2004)

YJET NUK VISHEN KËSHTU, novel (original: Albanian), Sejko publishing house, Elbasan 2000
(in Italian:
SOLE BRUCIATO, Feltrinelli – “I Narratori”, Milan 2001,
*** “Latisana per il Nord-Est 2001″ Award ***;
in French:
SOLEIL BRÛLÉ, Editions Anne Carrière, Paris 2005;
in English:
an excerpt has been translated by Robert Elsie and is included in his anthology BALKAN BEAUTY, BALKAN BLOOD)

LULE TË GABUARA, short stories (original: Albanian), Onufri publishing house, Tirana 1999
(one short story, “Frank”, has been translated into German by Joachim Röhm and published in the literary magazine “metaphorá”, Heft 6, München, 2000;
another short story, “Kërkomëni në kazanët”, has been translated into Romanian by Ardian-Christian Kyçyku and published in the literary magazine “Art Panorama”, Bucarest, 1999);

KARDIGAN, novel (original: Albanian), Çabej publishing house, Tirana 1998;

DASHURI E HUAJ, novel (original: Albanian), Çabej publishing house, Tirana 1997
(in Italian:
SENZA BAGAGLI, Besa publishing house, Lecce 1998;
a fragment has been translated into German by Hans-Joachim Lanksch and published in KUESSE UND EILIGE ROSEN, Limmat Verlag, Zürich 1998, a collection of “Swiss prose in non-Swiss languages”);

(the novels YJET NUK VISHEN KËSHTU, DITË E BARDHË E FYER and MË PAS HESHTJA constitute the “Trilogy of Sorrow”)

TV documentaries (a selection):

IN SEARCH OF BRUNILDA (2003, with Mohammed Soudani) centered on human trafficking between Albania and Italy. Produced and aired by the Italian-speaking branch of Swiss Broadcasting Company. Shortlisted for the italian journalistic award Premio Ilaria Alpi 2004.

I NGUJUAR / “Nailed” (2004, with Fulvio Mariani) focuses on blood feud in northern Albania. Produced and aired by Swiss Broadcasting Corp. Winner of FIPA d’argent in the section Grands Reportages et faits de societé at the Festival International des Programmes Audiovisuels (FIPA, Biarritz, France, january ’05); winner of the Mediterranean Reporting Award at the International Prize for Mediterranean documentary and reportage (Siracusa, Italy, ’05).

SWORN VIRGIN (2006, coproduced by Swiss Broadcasting Corp. and Dones Media). Nominated Best Documentary at the 2007 Baltimore Women’s Film Festival. Distributed in North America by the Filmakers Library.