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    Queen Teuta of Illyria
    Queen Teuta of Illyria
    Queen Teuta of Illyria
    Ebook76 pages44 minutes

    Queen Teuta of Illyria

    By P.I.Kapllani

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    This play was buried in a drawer for six years, until I met Cheryl Antao-Xavier, the publisher of In Our Words Inc., who gave me the inspiration to go ahead with its translation from Albanian into English. Often lost in the translation, I thought I would not make it. I want to thank her from my heart for making my dream come true—the publishing of my first book in English. I am so excited and delighted at this achievement.
    My writing challenge is an ongoing one, a fight for every single word, idiom and expression. I accept this challenge of writing in another language, the English language, which is not my mother tongue. Educated in my native Albanian language, I am now an English writer. This is a proud achievement for me. It has become my life’s purpose.
    I want to thank www.zoetrope.com, the virtual studio of Francis Ford Coppola, this wonderful forum, where I published my first short stories in English, an exercise that gave me much encouragement in my creative writing. These short stories, such as “One dollar”, “The trader”, “Three widows”, “Mom’s silhouette”, “Bald woman”, etc., were my first literary work and are my serious attempts to write in English. The reviews I received from other writers all around the world gave me the self-confidence to keep on translating my work into English from the Albanian language. I knew then that I must keep on writing because I am good at it. Thanks to the Coppola family for this wonderful forum that has helped and inspired play and screen writers, poets and short story writers. Because of the help of Coppola’s Zoetrope, I defeated my own fear and received the courage to go forward. My name “Perparim” means “progress” in Albanian. I am making progress in my creative writing, because of the doors opened at Zoetrope.
    I want to thank Mary Ellen Koroscil and her company Specialty Services Inc, for promoting my play on October 14th 2008, before the publication of the book and all the writers and artists who came and heard the introduction of the play.
    It was the end of the year 2000, when my family and I flew to Canada, our new country, where we have now lived for more than eight years. I accepted that this was a different world, a different society and I was in very different circumstances. I had to make the best in transition, tried to make a living by working in pizza restaurants for over 80 hours a week, with my mind and my heart fixed on a career in creative writing. Making pizza and Italian pasta dishes became my profession. Now I own my own pizza restaurant, The Corporation of Albany Pizza, which is located at 222 Lansdowne Avenue in Toronto, thanks to the help of my family and the Toronto Business Development Centre.
    My creative writing had been pushed to a back burner and risked becoming just a hobby. But not any more, now that I am independent without a boss to tell me, “What the hell are you doing in the workplace? You cannot write here, my friend!” Now, yes, I can write on the job. My creative writing is not a hobby anymore, but is the reason why I LIVE. When the business slows down and there are no customers around, I sit in front of my laptop and write. This is my destiny, this is the real me, this is who I am going to be.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherP.I.Kapllani
    Release dateFeb 6, 2016
    ISBN9780980993219
    Queen Teuta of Illyria
    Author

    P.I.Kapllani

    Përparim Kapllani (P.I.Kapllani) was born in the city of Elbasan, Albania. He came to Canada in 2000 and began to put to paper his many untold stories. His most recent book is "Grimcat" -a novel written in Albanian, published by Shkrimtari Publishing House. "The Thin Line" was published by Mawenzi House in 2018. "The Last Will", a novel based on Çamëria genocide, was published by IOWI in 2013. "Beyond the Edge" is a collection of short stories published in 2010. An English version of his play "Queen Teuta of Illyria" was published in 2008. An Albanian version of the play "Mbretëreshë Teuta e Ilirisë" was published in 2014. His short stories appeared in a few anthologies such as: "Lest I forget"-IOWI, "Canadian Voices"- Bookland Press, "The Literary Connection", and "Courtney Park Connection"-IOWI. He graduated as an Anti Aircraft Gun Artillery Officer in 1990, University "Scanderbeg", Tirana, Albania. Years later he graduated as a high school teacher for Literature and Albanian Language, Tirana University, Faculty of History and Philology, in 1998.

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      Book preview

      Queen Teuta of Illyria - P.I.Kapllani

      Queen Teuta of Illyria

      Untitled2

      A PLAY

      WRITTEN & TRANSLATED BY

      PERPARIM KAPLLANI

       Queen Teuta of Illyria: A Play

      Written and translated by Perparim Kapllani

      Published by:

      In Our Words, Inc

      5724 Tayside Cres.

      Mississauga

      Ontario L5M 5J4

      www.inourwords.ca

      In association with 

      A Type of Magic

      1062 Charminster Cres.

      Mississauga

      Ontario L5V 1R1

      T. 416.995.5692

      www.atypeofmagic.com

      Design & Layout Archie D’Cruz

      Cover Illustration Tony Kiehl

      Author Picture Abhinav Misra

      Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

      Kapllani, Perparim, 1966-

      Queen Teuta of Illyria : a play / by Perparim Kapllani.

      Includes bibliographical references and index.

      ISBN 978-0-9809932-1-9

      1. Teuta, Queen of the Illyrians, 3rd cent. B.C.--Drama. 2. Illyria--Drama. I. Title.

      PS8621.A62Q39 2008 C812’.6 C2008-907615-X

      First Printing, 2008

      1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

      All Rights Reserved. Copyright © Perparim Kapllani, Toronto, 2008. No part of this book

      may be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form, or stored on any device including digital

      media, except with the prior written permission of the author and publisher. Exceptions are

      granted for brief quotations utilized in critical articles or reviews. Book design © A Type of Magic.

      PRINTED IN CANADA

       Buried in the drawer? No more.

      Albanian language, I am now an English writer. This is a proud achievement for me. It has become my life’s purpose. 

      I want to thank www.zoetrope.com, the virtual studio of Francis Ford Coppola, a wonderful forum, where I published my first short stories in English, an exercise that gave me much encouragement in my creative writing. These short stories, such as One Dollar, The Trader, Three Widows, Mom’s Silhouette, Bald Woman, etc., were my first literary work and are my serious attempts to write in English. The reviews I received from other writers all around the world gave me the self-confidence to keep on translating my work into English from the Albanian language.

      I knew then that I must keep on writing because I am good at it. Thanks to the Coppola family for this wonderful forum that has helped and inspired play and screen writers, poets and short story writers. Because of the help of

      Coppola’s Zoetrope, I defeated my own fear and received the courage to go forward. My name Perparim means progress in Albanian. I am making progress in my creative writing, because of the doors opened at Zoetrope.

      I want to thank Mary Ellen Koroscil and her company Specialty Services Inc, for promoting my play on October 14th 2008, before the publication of the book and all the writers and artists who came and heard the introduction of the play.

      It was the end of the year 2000, when my family and I flew to Canada, our new country, where we have now lived for more than eight years. I accepted that this was a different world, a different society and I was in very different circumstances. I had to make the best in transition, tried to make a living by working in pizza restaurants for over 80 hours a week, with my mind and my heart fixed on a career in creative writing. Making pizza and Italian pasta dishes became my profession. Now I own my own pizza restaurant, The Corporation of Albany Pizza, which is located at 222 Lansdowne Ave in Toronto, thanks to the help of my family and the Toronto Business Development Centre.

      My creative writing had been pushed to a back burner and risked becoming just a hobby. But not any more, now that I am independent without a boss to tell me, What the hell are you doing in the workplace? You cannot write here, my friend! Now, yes, I can write on the job. My creative writing is not a hobby anymore, but is the reason why I LI VE. When the business slows down and there are no customers around, I sit in front of my laptop and write. This is my destiny, this is the real me, this is who I am going to be in the future. I am going to be known as a writer – a Canadian writer – before I die. No matter how long it will take, no price is too heavy to realize this dream.

      My play Queen Teuta of Illyria was selected as one of the 16 best plays in a worldwide competition organized by the Ministry of Culture of Albania in November 2002. The Queen left behind many plays by well-known

      Albanian playwrights, but was punished to stay in a drawer thereafter, until publishers In Our Words took the risk and the courage to sponsor its publication. I understand this is just the first step toward its real success, because, as we all know, a play is written to be performed on the stage.

      After the publication of this book, I hope to contact many Canadian theatre companies to stage the play.

      I want to thank the American web designer and moderator Tony Kiehl, who created the portrait of Queen Teuta in a three dimensional image. Special thanks to Archie D’Cruz who designed the cover of Queen Teuta, based on the image of Teuta created by Tony Kiehl. Because of them, the book has this beautiful cover of the ‘devil’ queen, who, in my work of fiction,

      Enjoying the preview?
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