ANGELA KOSTA’S RADIANT TORCH

By: Dr. SIYOUNG DOUNG (SOUTH KOREA)

[Angela Kosta]

[Dr. Siyoung Doung]

Recently, every morning I have been reading Angela Kosta’s poetry collection Perla d’Amore (Pearl of Love), translated by the honorable Dr. Kang Byeong-Cheol, founding president of the Korean Association of World Literature. Her poems are filled with the pain, suffering, and compassion of human existence. They pierce through the very substance of life’s darkness, crying out, weeping, and lamenting.

This voice is not merely that of one individual—it may well be words from the divine realm, the voices of those who, throughout human history, have lived under persecution. Humanity has existed and will continue to exist, yet within existence itself lies not only happiness but also the grim reality of hell. Reading her poetry compels us to think that something—anything—must be done to dispel this sorrow.

Her poetry was written in pain, and it must also be read in pain. It makes us reflect deeply on what it truly means to be human, and what we ought to do. Her literature is a bloody appeal, a cry that resonates across the world. To read and to listen to it is to confront the merciless misery inflicted by human beings upon one another. Ultimately, her words converge into a light that will brighten the present and future of human life itself.

The merciless hunger does not abandon us,

it circles and tightens around our hands...

(from Hunger)

In silence the devil rules the world…

He stretches his tentacles throughout the cosmos,

Fate’s misfortune germinates in them.

(from The Apotheosis of Beelzebub)

Throughout human history, there have been many philosophies and schools of thought. Reading her poetry recalls Michel Foucault’s philosophy—his reflections on prisons, schools, armies, and the unspeakable oppression inflicted upon a living being. It reminds us as well of Rousseau’s Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, and even Nietzsche’s ideas. Her work also evokes W. G. Sebald’s The Emigrants, as we think of her diasporic life lived between Albania and Italy, between two times, two spaces, and two cultures.

In that distance between two worlds, she makes vast territories and cultures come alive. She cultivates spiritual nourishment for humanity, sows the seeds of peace, and tends to them with her labor and action. Where Angela Kosta stands, the rising sun smiles, and there the immense shadows cast upon human history gradually recede. In her works, a radiant sunlight spreads softly across the world, preparing a shelter for those who suffer. I pay my deepest respect to her solitary, arduous, and magnificent journey and literary achievements.

Angela Kosta has published 28 books—including poetry, novels, and fairy tales—in Italian, English, Turkish, Arabic, and French. She has introduced the works of more than 170 writers through Albanian–Italian translations and has promoted over 600 poets and 85 artists in literary journals both in Italy and abroad. She has also translated the works of Italian noble poets and renowned authors into multiple languages. In addition, she serves as Vice President of a humanist organization, and has been appointed cultural and peace ambassador by non-profit cultural peace organizations in Poland, Bangladesh, Morocco, Canada, Algeria, Egypt, Mexico, Yemen, Romania, India, and more. Anyone who sees the breadth of her activities cannot help but be astonished.

In this brilliant journey of her life, I offer my enthusiastic applause to her new poetry collection, born in Korean, Italian, and English. I hail this new torch she has lifted, radiant in its brilliance.

- Dr. Siyoung Doung

Former Professor at Korea Tourism University and Jilin University of Finance and Economics, China

5th President of the Korean Association of World Literature