Gazmend Kapllani

Gazmend Kapllani is an Albanian-born scholar, author, and journalist fluent in multiple languages. He resided in Athens, Greece, for over two decades (1991–2012), where he studied philosophy and psychology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and earned a Ph.D. in political science and history from Panteion University. Dr. Kapllani taught Albanian and Balkan history at Panteion University (2008–2011) and became a prominent journalist in both the Greek and Albanian press.

He has authored two collections of poetry in Albanian and four novels written in both Greek and Albanian, in addition to numerous scholarly essays. His literary and academic work focuses on borders, totalitarianism, migration, identity, and how Balkan history has shaped private and public narratives and memories. His novels are included in curricula at leading universities in Europe, the United States, and Canada, and have been the subject of theatrical adaptations in different countries and scholarly essays.

Kapllani’s first best-selling novel, A Short Border Handbook (2006), has been translated into ten languages. The novel was adapted for the stage by Bornholm Theater in Denmark and the National Theater of the Deaf in Greece, and received the International Literary Prize of the City of Cassino in Italy in 2017. His other novels, My Name is Europe, The Last Page, and Wrongland, have been published in French, Italian, Albanian, Greek, and English. The Last Page was shortlisted for the French Prix Cezam Littéraire Inter CE 2016 and received the literary prize of the Salon du Livre des Balkans in Paris.

Wrongland was a finalist for the 2025 Eric Hoffer Montaigne Medal, which recognizes "the most thought-provoking books that either illuminate, progress, or redirect thought." The novel was adapted for the stage by Greek theater director Pantelis Flatsousis and performed in Athens in 2022.

Since 2012, Dr. Kapllani has lived and taught in the United States, where he has been a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University and a writer-in-residence at Brown University and Wellesley College. He taught creative writing and European history at Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts (2013–2018). Since 2019, Dr. Kapllani has chaired the Hidai “Eddie” Bregu Endowment in Albanian Studies at DePaul University and directed the DePaul Albanian and Southeastern European Undergraduate Certificate. The DePaul Albanian Studies Program, the first of its kind in American academia, was established under his leadership as a dynamic, interdisciplinary curriculum dedicated to the study of Albanian culture, language, history, and politics as a gateway to the broader region of Southeastern and Eastern Europe, a region that has historically been a crossroads of cultures, languages, and religions. Dr. Kapllani’s internationally recognized expertise as an author, scholar, and journalist informs his teaching and leadership of the Albanian Studies program. For more information regarding Albanian and Southeastern European Studies Undergraduate Certificate visit: https://catalog.depaul.edu/programs/albanian-and-southeastern-european-studies-undergraduate-certificate/

Gazmend Kapllani is an Albanian-born scholar, author, and journalist fluent in multiple languages. He resided in Athens, Greece, for over two decades (1991–2012), where he studied philosophy and psychology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and earned a Ph.D. in political science and history from Panteion University. Dr. Kapllani taught Albanian and Balkan history at Panteion University (2008–2011) and became a prominent journalist in both the Greek and Albanian press.

He has authored two collections of poetry in Albanian and four novels written in both Greek and Albanian, in addition to numerous scholarly essays. His literary and academic work focuses on borders, totalitarianism, migration, identity, and how Balkan history has shaped private and public narratives and memories. His novels are included in curricula at leading universities in Europe, the United States, and Canada, and have been the subject of theatrical adaptations in different countries and scholarly essays.

Kapllani’s first best-selling novel, A Short Border Handbook (2006), has been translated into ten languages. The novel was adapted for the stage by Bornholm Theater in Denmark and the National Theater of the Deaf in Greece, and received the International Literary Prize of the City of Cassino in Italy in 2017. His other novels, My Name is Europe, The Last Page, and Wrongland, have been published in French, Italian, Albanian, Greek, and English. The Last Page was shortlisted for the French Prix Cezam Littéraire Inter CE 2016 and received the literary prize of the Salon du Livre des Balkans in Paris.

Wrongland was a finalist for the 2025 Eric Hoffer Montaigne Medal, which recognizes "the most thought-provoking books that either illuminate, progress, or redirect thought." The novel was adapted for the stage by Greek theater director Pantelis Flatsousis and performed in Athens in 2022.

Since 2012, Dr. Kapllani has lived and taught in the United States, where he has been a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University and a writer-in-residence at Brown University and Wellesley College. He taught creative writing and European history at Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts (2013–2018). Since 2019, Dr. Kapllani has chaired the Hidai “Eddie” Bregu Endowment in Albanian Studies at DePaul University and directed the DePaul Albanian and Southeastern European Undergraduate Certificate. The DePaul Albanian Studies Program, the first of its kind in American academia, was established under his leadership as a dynamic, interdisciplinary curriculum dedicated to the study of Albanian culture, language, history, and politics as a gateway to the broader region of Southeastern and Eastern Europe, a region that has historically been a crossroads of cultures, languages, and religions. Dr. Kapllani’s internationally recognized expertise as an author, scholar, and journalist informs his teaching and leadership of the Albanian Studies program. For more information regarding Albanian and Southeastern European Studies Undergraduate Certificate visit: https://catalog.depaul.edu/programs/albanian-and-southeastern-european-studies-undergraduate-certificate/