[2] Currently living in the United States, he was the first president of the Society of Albanian-American Writers,[3] established in 2001[2][4] and has published several books of poetry, prose and literary criticism.

[5] In 2008, Marinaj was awarded the Pjetër Arbnori Prize for literature by QNK, part of the Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports of Albania.

[8] Born in 1965 in the Malësi e Madhe District of northern Albania, Marinaj started his writing career as a restricted correspondent publishing in a number of Albanian media outlets, first in local newspapers in Shkodër, then in a series of Albanian national publications including Zëri i Rinisë (The Voice of Youth), Luftëtari (The Fighter), Vullnetari (The Volunteer), and Drita (The Light).

[10] Aware of his imminent arrest by the communist regime, on September 12, 1990, Marinaj escaped authorities by illegally crossing the Albanian-Yugoslavian border.

[23] What at first glance read like a simple poem about farm animals was actually a satirical social and political commentary about the Albanian people being herded and corralled by an oppressive communist regime.

"[28] Nevertheless, "having seen other poets hanged in the city's center for voicing similar notions of freedom and liberty, Marinaj knew that he had to leave the country immediately; he packed a few of his favorite books, told his friends and family that he was going on vacation, and set off on an eight-hour hike over the mountains and into Yugoslavia.

He continued his education at the University of Texas at Dallas, where he graduated magna cum laude in 2006 with a bachelor's in literary studies, followed by a master's degree in the same subject in 2008.

"[32] According to The Dallas Morning News, Marinaj's "Protonism Theory" seeks to "promote peace and positive thinking" through literary criticism.

[35] Marinaj formulated Protonism Theory in 2005 as a response to the flood of unduly negative criticism in East European academia following the collapse of communism.

Protismiotics combines Protonism and semiotics as a means of discovering whether a negative assessment of a work represents an attack on the author or an unprofessional critique.

[45] Marinaj's studies Sung Across the Shoulder: Heroic Poetry of Illyria[46] (Mundus Artium Press, 2011; co-edited, translated and introduced with Frederick Turner) and dissertation-based Oral Poetry in Albanian and Other Balkan Cultures: Translating the Labyrinths of Untranslatability (UMI, 2012; Pro Quest, Michigan, USA 2020) draw on his personal ethnographic research.

[69][70][71] Marinaj has maintained inclusive professional collaborations with writers and cultural figures from these and other countries around the world, such as China,[72][73][74][75][76][77] Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan,[78][79][80] Laos, Colombia,[81][82] Russia,[83]Cuba[84][85] Montenegro,[86] and Ethiopia.

[101][102][103] As a professor, Dr. Marinaj oversees doctoral dissertations for multiple universities worldwide, and is currently actively serving at the National University of Uzbekistan,[104] Shanghai Normal University,[105] and The National University of Colombia[106] Marinaj has published numerous books of poetry, journalism and literary criticism in many countries and languages.The Ofi Press Magazine His poetry collections include Mos më ik larg[107] (Do Not Depart From Me), Infinit[108] (Infinite), and Lutje në ditën e tetë të javës[109] (Prayer on the Eighth Day of the Week),[110][111] Prizonierul Absentei[112] (Prisoner of Absence), Dolazim da pozelenim[113] (I Come to Leaf Out), Nhung hy Vong Trong suot[114] (Translucent Hopes), Nhung Cay Lieu Ri Mau[115] (Bleeding Willows), Sevginin 24 Saati [116][117](24 Hours of Love), 46 Sahifa[118] (Page 46), Schizzi D’immaginazione[119] (Sketches in Imagination), ການສາລະພາບຂອງທະເລ (Confessions of the Sea), Humanizing Venus, 대서양 연안에서 네루다와 함께[120] (With Neruda on the Atlantic Shore), An Ell Above the Clouds, The Paradigm of Paradise,[121] Teach Me How to Whisper: Horses and Other Poems and Desert of Oblivion.

[27] He has also translated two books from Vietnamese to Albanian:[134] Vowels in the Dew, selected poems by Mai Văn Phấn;[135][136] and Ho Chi Minh's Chess Lessons: Poetry from the Prison Diary.

[137][138][139][140] Marinaj received the Pjetër Arbnori Prize for literature from QNK, part of the Albanian Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports, in 2008.

New York, London: Adriatic Press, 2007) and Dr. Ramesh Mukhopadhyaya's Hidden in the Light of Thought: 22 of Gjeke Marinaj’s Poems Decoded (Oklahoma: Orpheus Texts, 2019).

Hanoi, Vietnam: Writers' Association Publishing House, 2016), Besim Muhadri's Esencat e mendimit letrar (Essences of Literary Thought.