Albanian writer Grigor Banushi presented the Bulgarian translation of his book The Unfinished Symphony on Thursday at the University of Sofia. One of the novel's characters was inspired by a Bulgarian woman who chose to marry an Albanian during the totalitarian regime, Banushi told students and readers. He added that there were many non-Albanian women who married Albanians and were then persecuted by the regime. The unfinished symphony tells the story of pianist and composer Adrian Mara, who fled the totalitarian regime in Albania and settled in France. He was persecuted by the regime for an insignificant reason - his mother was Italian, the author said.

Grigor Banushi's books, especially the Unfinished Symphony, reflect a sad part of Albanian history, the totalitarian regime, when many intellectuals were persecuted, Albanian ambassador to Bulgaria Inid Milo said during the event. Nowadays, the reality in Albania is completely different, she added. Albanians aspire to become members of the EU and are proud to show their talents in Bulgaria, Europe and the world, added the ambassador. According to Grigor Banushi, Albania is not yet part of the EU, politically, but is accepted and integrated through art. Many artists are famous throughout Europe, he noted.

The desire of the Albanian writer to meet the Bulgarian public dates back a long time, since the publication of his previous novel The Wrath of the Fairies in Bulgarian, Svetlana Jançeva from the Izida publishing house. The book had a warm reception and had very good reactions from Bulgarian readers, Jançeva noted. Grigor Banushi was born in Tirana in 1948. He graduated in Linguistics and Literature at the University of Tirana and then worked as a teacher in Pukë. Until 2013, he worked as a journalist at Radio Tirana. In 1997, he published his debut novel, The Death of Narcissus, followed by Face of the Devil (2009). Grigor Banushi's third novel, Wrath of the Fairies, was published in 2015 and was nominated for the European Prize for Literature. /BTA