Organized by the Institute of Books and Promotion, the festival explores the theme “When Silence Speaks: Literature That Transcends Borders, Challenges Narratives, and Restores Excluded Voices.” Through powerful storytelling, the event addresses memory, trauma, identity, diaspora, and the narratives left at the margins.

This edition of “Tirana Gate 2026” will take place at Vila 31 x Art Explora and other cultural venues across Tirana, including the National Library. Writers, poets, translators and scholars from Albania, the region and various European countries will participate in the sessions and panel discussions.

International guests include German writer Martina Hefter (winner of the 2024 German Book Prize), Ersi Sotiropoulos (Greece), Emilios Solomou (Cyprus), Alfredo Villaverde Gil (Spain), Antonio Caiazza (Italy), Salim Nizam (Turkey) and Raluca Nagy (Romania). The festival will also feature authors from Croatia, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Montenegro.

Albanian literature will be represented by Rita Petro, Flutura Açka, Besnik Mustafaj, Diana Çuli, Namik Dokle, Liridon Mulaj, Ben Andoni, Eris Rusi, Anna Kove, Arta Marku and Majlinda Rama.

The program explores key themes such as the body and memory, forgotten archives, intergenerational trauma, the diaspora, representation, and young people’s relationship with books. A dedicated panel will discuss the challenges of reading in the digital age, featuring members of the National Youth Reading Club and the Student Parliament.

The program also includes creative writing workshops—such as “From Idea to Novel,” led by Ivana Trajanoska, and “Open the Book, Open the World,” dedicated to family reading. Additionally, there will be book launches and signing sessions with the participating international authors. /p.s./

This is the first step of a project of the Ministry of Defense for the revitalization and rehabilitation of the entire infrastructure complex in Panorma Bay for military and civilian functions.

The project aims at the good administration of the area, which has started to be a privileged tourist destination, respecting the environmental norms and offering the highest possible navigational safety conditions.

The next step will be the adaptation of the facilities of the complex that no longer have any military functions, in order to create a sustainable tourist attraction.

The project also aims to restore to technical readiness these precious assets of our Naval Force, which can serve for the purpose of national and international exercises.

The opening of the tunnel was carried out by the Engineer Battalion and was realized smoothly despite over 3 decades of inactivity.

The tunnel served as an autonomous base for the shelter and safe passage of naval vessels of the time, within the peninsula of Porto Palermo.

The opening of the steel gate of this water tunnel lined with reinforced concrete has set its mechanism in motion for the first time in a long time.

The construction of this tunnel began in 1969 and lasted until 1988. It served for the shelter and safe passage of naval vessels of the time, serving simultaneously as a powerful and protected base. /r.e/p.s./