Lea Ypi

UK Press

Financial Times, ‘Free, and Mud Sweeter than Honey — Albania’s curse after communism’

The Guardian, ‘A memoir of life amid the collapse of communism’ (Stuart Jeffries)

The Guardian, ‘Free by Lea Ypi review – a riveting portrait of growing up in communist Albania’ (Luke Harding)

The Times, ‘Free by Lea Ypi Review – life under the weirdest communism in the world’ (Emma Duncan)

Sunday Times, Free by Lea Ypi Review – growing up in Enver Hoxha’s communist Albania’ (Laura Hackett)

Times Literary Supplement, ‘Children of a Circle of Hell’ (Misha Glenny)

Daily Telegraph, Albania’s history is a harrowing reminder of the horrors of Communism (Tim Stanley)

Daily Mail, ‘The coke cans that made us dream of capitalism’ (Ysenda Maxtone Graham)

New Left Review, ‘Against Concepts’ (Joe Grim Feinberg)

The Socialist Worker, Free by Lea Ypi Review – coming of age in the ruins of Stalinism

History Today, ‘Beginning at the End’ (Katja Hoyer)

Calvert Journal, ‘I wanted this book to be a reconciliation of different generations’: Lea Ypi on growing up in communist Albania (Matt Janney)

The London Review of Books, ‘For the Love of Uncle Enver: Albania after Hoxha’ (Thomas Meaney)

Huck Magazine, Lea Ypi on her vital memoir about coming of age amid the last days of communism’ (Diyora Shadijanova)

Literary Review, ‘Hoxha’s Long Shadow’ (Roderick Bailey)

Red Pepper, Review: Free: Coming of Age at the End of History (Hannah Proctor)

Publishers Weekly, ‘Making Sense of Freedom’ (Steph Buschardt)

Spectator, Books of the Year (Ruth Scurr)

The Tablet, Speed reading: Brian Morton on other people’s lives (Brian Morton)

American Press

New York Times, ‘What it’s like to live through a rupture in history’ (Max Strasser)

Foreign Affairs, Free: A Child and Country at the End of History (Andrew Moravcsik)

The Wall Street Journal, ‘Free’ Review: A Childhood in Communist Albania (Tunku Varadarajan)

The New Republic, ‘Searching for Freedom after the Cold War’ (Sophie Pinkham)

Kirkus, ‘A poignant, humorous memoir about growing up during the decline and fall of the Iron Curtain‘

Jacobin, ‘For Albania, Capitalism’s Promise of Freedom Soon Turned Sour’ (Kristen R. Ghodsee)

Washington Post, ‘When communism crumbled, so did an 11-year-old’s reality’ (Charles King)

The Arts Fuse, ‘Book Review: “Free” — A Communist Childhood’ (Monica Hileman)

The New Yorker, Briefly Noted: ‘Free’

Los Angeles Review of Books, Cultivated Illusions: On Lea Ypi’s “Free: A Child and a Country at the End of History” (Cory Oldweiler)

European Press

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, ‘Wenn sich das Leben in zwei Hälften teilt’ (Harald Staun)

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, ‘Was Freiheit ganz konkret heißt’ (Rainer Hank)

Süddeutsche Zeitung, ‘Fluch der Hoffnung’ (Nele Pollatschek)

Tageszeitung, ‘Erbin der Dissidenten’ (Eva Behrendt)

Der Standard (Austria), ‘Lea Ypi: “Es ist ein Aufruf, das westliche System kritisch zu hinterfragen”‘ (Ruth Renée Reif)

Tages Anzeiger, «Die Lösung muss immer mehr Demokratie sein» (Adelina Gashi, Marguerite Meyer)

Irish Times, ‘Free by Lea Ypi: Funny, precise, accessible, serious memoir of a Stalinist childhood’ (Ed O’Loughlin)

Tagesspiegel, ‘Politische Theorie als Literatur: Freiheit ist auch nur ein Wort’ (Gregor Dotzauer)

Micromega, “Libera. Diventare grandi alla fine della storia” (Elettra Santori)

Giessener Anzeiger, ‘Zwischen den Welten’

Tagebuch, ‘Eine bestimmte Form der Welt’ (Andrea Grill)

Der Freitag, ‘Ich liebte den Kommunismus, bis mir meine Eltern die Wahrheit erzählten’ (Kathrin Gerlof)

The Parliament Magazine, ‘Albanian academic and author Lea Ypi’s memoir recalls a childhood under Uncle Enver and how communism’s collapse turned her life and worldview upside down’ (Luke Johnson)

Dublin Review of Books, ‘Hugging Stalin’ (Michael Foley)

Die Literarische Welt, ‘Kennst du das Land, das auch am Strand bewaffnet war?’ (Dirk Schumer)

Schweizer Monat, ‘Leben unter Onkel Enver’ (Jannik Belser)

Volksrant, ‘Als je geboorteland niet meer bestaat’ (Olaf Tempelman)

Tagblatt, ‘Leben einer Philosophin: Albaniens Diktator drangsalierte ihre Familie – trotzdem bekennt sie sich zum Sozialismus’ (Julian Schütt)

Göteborg’s Posten, ‘Recension: ”Fri – En uppväxt vid historiens slut” av Lea Ypi’ (Mats Kolmisoppi)

Dagsavisen (Norway), ‘Albanania: Drømmen om frihet’ (Heidi Nordby Lunde)

3SAT Deutschland, ‘Lea Ypi – Das Geheimnis der Freiheit’

Svenska Dagbladet, ‘Löftet om frihet som aldrig infriades’ (Mattias Svensson)

Fokus, ‘Lea Ypi visar varför nostalgin kring kommunism lever’ (Torbjorn Elensky)

Liberale, ‘Lea Ypi: Nuk mund të jetë i lirë dikush që është i papunë’

Tema, ‘Kritikë e librit “Të lirë: të rritesh në fund të historisë”, nga Lea Ypi’ (Andi Haxhiu)

Prishtina Insight, Life Under Communism: Growing up in ‘Comrade Enver’s’ Albania (Natasha Tripney)

S-Bunker, ‘Letërsia e tranzicionit – nga Çapaliku te Ypi’ (Armend Bekaj)

Die Welt, Kennst du das Land, das auch am Strand bewaffnet war? (Dirk Schumer)

Journal 21, Wann ist man frei? (Urs Meier)

Die Falter, Die Geschichte Albaniens und die Frage der Freiheit (Kirstin Breitenfellner)

La Repubblica, Quando Stalin era il mio eroe (Michela Marzano)

WDR, “Frei. Erwachsenwerden am Ende der Geschichte” von Lea Ypi (Uli Hufen)

Panorama, “Një lexim i domosdoshëm” kritikë mbi librin “Të lirë” nga Lea Ypi (Blendi Kajsiu)

Morgenpost, Berlins Schonste Seiten – Folge 5

NRC Handelsblad, ‘Ik herinner me geen repressie. Dat hielden mijn ouders voor me verborgen’ (Eva Peek)

Aftonbladet, Vi måste göra upp med 90-talets syn på frihet (Karin Petersson)

Il Sole 24 Ore, ‘L’Abania in Cerca di un Futuro’ (Mario Ricciardi)

Liberation, ‘ Lea Ypi, «Oncle Enver» et contre tout’ (Virginie Bloch-Laine)

Zeichen & Zeiten, ‘Lea Ypi – „Frei“’

Salzburger Nachrichten, ‘Lea Ypis Buch “Frei – Erwachsenwerden am Ende der Geschichte”: Berührendes Erinnerungsbuch wird bestürzend aktuell’ (Helmut L. Muller)

Abendzeitung Munchen, ‘Lea Ypi und ihre Biografie: Von wahrer und falscher Freiheit’ (Volker Isfort)

Globalist, ‘Lea Ypi e il racconto dell’Albania post-comunista alle prese con capitalismo, povertà e emigrazione’ (Antonio Salvati)

Revista di Filosofia, ‘Lea Ypi, Free: Coming of Age at the End of History’ (David Sánchez Piñeiro)

Jyllands Posten, ‘Lea Ypi voksede op i en løgn. Måske gør du også?’ (Lasse Momme)

Vogue, ‘Książka tygodnia: Lea Ypi, „Wolna. Dzieciństwo i koniec świata w Albanii”’ (PAWEŁ SMOLEŃSKI)

Other:

The Monthly, ‘Eastern blocked: Lea Ypi’s ‘Free” (Emma Fajgenbaum)

Peru 21, ‘Opinion: Libre’ (Javier Alonso de Belaunde)

Gatopardo, ‘Ni capitalismo ni socialismo: las memorias de Lea Ypi’ (Juan Espindola)

Interviews

The Guardian, ‘Spies, lies and doublethink: Lea Ypi on growing up in Europe’s last communist state’ (Aida Edemariam)

Financial Times (Lunch with the FT), ‘Lea Ypi: ‘For me, Marx is neither a saint nor the enemy’’ (Alec Russell)

The New Statesman, Lea Ypi: “The freedom that liberalism brought was only for some people” (George Eaton)

The Observer, Lea Ypi: ‘Hope is a moral duty’ (Kate Kellaway)

Byline Times, ‘At the Crossroads of Freedom’ (Sian Norris)

Times Higher Education Supplement, ‘Free: how Lea Ypi memoir connected with readers around the world’ (Jack Grove)

Times Higher Education Supplement, ‘Academics struggle to get visas for relatives to visit UK’ (Tom Williams)

BBC Radio 4 Start the Week, ‘Ai Weiwei, Lea Ypi and Kirill Gerstein discuss creative, political and personal freedom’ (Tom Sutcliffe)

BBC Radio 5 Live with Nihal Arthanayake

BBC World Service – Witness History, ‘The end of Stalinist rule in Albania’

BBC Radio 4 Books of the Week, Free: Coming of Age at the End of History by Lea Ypi

BBC History, ‘Living Through the Fall of Communism’ (Rob Attar)

ABC Radio Australia, ‘Growing up in Communist Albania’ (Phillip Adams)

New Lines Magazine, ‘When Reality is A Lie – With Lea Ypi’ (Faisal Al Yafai)

Deutsche Welle, ‘Lea Ypi: Nuk mund të jetë i lirë dikush që është i papunë’

DeutschlandFunk, ‘Das Ende der Welt, die wir kannten’ (Uli Hufen)

Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF), Lea Ypi – Das Geheimnis der Freiheit (Wolfram Eilenberger)

Die Zeit, ‘Unerhört frei’ (Peter Neumann)

La Stampa, Lea Ypi: “Vi racconto il mio viaggio fuori dalla caverna di Platone” (Francesca Sforza)

Ansa Italy, Lea Ypi, la libertà vera è la dignità della persona (Mauretta Capuano)

Schweizer Monat, «Es ist sehr einfach, die
Demokratisierung eines Landes von aussen zu fordern» (Jannik Belser, Vojin Saša Vukadinović)

Il Post, ‘La libertà secondo Lea Ypi, che da bambina abbracciò Stalin’ (Ludovica Lugli)

Prospect, Lea Ypi: “I have never been a standard liberal” (Finn McRedmond)

Perspective Magazine, ‘The Interview: Lea Ypi’ (Rowan Pelling)

De Standaard (Belgium), ‘Alleen als je erop vertrouwt dat je vijand menselijk blijft, kun je bouwen aan vrede’ (Katrien Steyaert)

Filosofie, Lea Ypi: ‘Ik heb gezien hoe realiteit wordt geconstrueerd’ (Alexandra van Ditmars)

Vi Laser (Sweden), Lea Ypi & Kristoffer Leandoer i Tirana

EW Magazine, Lea Ypi over communistisch Albanië: ‘Ik voelde als kind dat het niet klopte’ (Robbert de Witt)

Radio New Zealand, Professor Lea Ypi: coming of age at the End of History

Financieele Dagblad, ‘Vrij zijn, maar nergens naartoe kunnen’ (Han Dirk Hekking)

Algemeen Dagblad, Lea Ypi schreef een boek over omwenteling Albanië: ‘Ik ben bang dat echt vrije samenleving niet bestaat’ (Mark van Assen)

Trouw, ‘Niet langer opgesloten, maar echt vrij? Voor de jonge Lea Ypi in Albanië voelde dat niet zo’ (Nicole Lucas)

Berlingske, ‘Borgerkrig og baklava: Hun levede under Stalins Øje i Europas glemte land’ (Jakob Genz)

Politiken, ‘Professor var teenager, da kapitalismen ramte Østeuropa som en hammer: Her er den største løgn ved den vestlige idé om frihed’ (Matthias Dressler-Bredsdorff)

Kristeligt Dagblad, Lea er betaget af Stalin og besat af frihed. Bogen er et “testamentarisk vidnesbyrd af format” (Kristian Østergaard)

Kristeligt Dagblad, ‘Lea var et glad og frit barn. Indtil sandheden en dag blev afsløret’ (Bjørg Tulinius)

Dagens Nyheter, Lea Ypi: Jag var övertygad om att kommunismen var god och ledde till frihet (Sandra Stiskalo)

Courrier des Balkans, LITTÉRATURE : « LIBRES » DE LEA YPI, OU COMMENT GRANDIR DANS L’ALBANIE COMMUNISTE (Nerimane Kamberi)

Top Channel, Çmimi “Lumo Skëndo”/ Fituese është Lea Ypi me librin “të lirë”

Klan News, Opinion – Pa Kufij, Lea Ypi

Vizion Plus, Lea Ypi: “Armiku” që ëndërronte një foto me Enver Hoxhën… 

News24, Lea Ypi: Hezitimi e polemikat për librin tim, Butka: Dilemat e Leas së sotme cënojnë spontanitetin e veprës….

Delo Slovenia, ‘Padcu komunizma je sledila svoboda z napako’ (Jure Kosec)

Dritare TV, Lea Ypi, Njeriu i vitit!

Tirana Post, ‘Lea Ypi, mësuesja e marksizmit që u rrëfeu të huajve komunizmin shqiptar’ (Mira Kazhani)

RTK, Pse na duhet Lea Ypi?

Klan Kosova, Ora 7 – Libër : “Të lirë” nga Lea Ypi

La Repubblica, “Io, cresciuta tra le bugie del regime comunista qui ho scoperto Gramsci” (Emanuela Giampaoli)

Information, ‘Vi skal udvikle en socialisme som kan realisere og radikalisere den liberale drøm om frihed, siger Lea Ypi’ (Rune Lykkeberg)

Arte TV, TWIST – Die Kultur-Sendung von ARTE

Radio 3, Fahrenheit – Salone del libro: terzo giorno, seconda parte

Vrij (Netherlands), Politicoloog Lea Ypi: ‘Vrijheid betekent niet dat je je gang kunt gaan, ongeacht de ander’ (Maaike Schoon)

Voice of America, Lea Ypi: Si u pajtova me të shkuarën dhe koncepti mbi lirinë (Menada Zaimi)

O’Globo, ‘Não podemos achar que apenas pessoas no Ocidente sabem o que é liberdade’, diz escritora albanesa’ (Emanuelle Bordallo)

Folha de Sao Paolo, ‘Quem é Lea Ypi, que narra o fim da ditadura em seu país, mas nunca achou a liberdade’ (Walter Porto)

La Croix, Léa Ypi : après le communisme, une quête éperdue de liberté (Marie Verdier)

Dagens ETC, ”Ett barn har inga tankar om att krossa kommunismen” (Jenny Aschenbrenner)

Aftonbladet, ‘Lea Ypi: “Man kan inte lära någon att bli fri’

Kultura Liberalna, ‘Wolna. Dzieciństwo i koniec świata w Albanii [fragment książki]’

Tygodnik Powszechny, ‘LEA YPI: GŁOS ALBAŃSKIEGO POKOLENIA’ (Marta Szpala)