Egyptian poet Fatma Naoot prepares her reading of Adrian Grima's poems in Arabic

Adrian Grima was invited to Egypt in May to read his poetry in Cairo and Alexandria. The other poets were Sylvia Geist (Germany), Jaan Kaplinski (Estonia), Marta Pessarrodona (Catalonia) and Fatima Naoot (Egypt). These events were organized by Literature Across Frontiers with the support of the Anna Lindh Foundation (1001 Actions for Dialogue) and in cooperation with the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Goethe Institut Cairo, Estonian Literature Centre, and Institut Ramon Llull. Inizjamed is the Maltese partner in Literature Across Frontiers. Adrian Grima's visit was supported by the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts.
 

At the Goethe Institut in Cairo (Saturday, 17 May 2008, 19:00 – 20:30), Adrian Grima read his poems "Ħallejt Ġenbejk fuq Ruħi," "Qamar," "Kieku Kelli Lanċa Żgħira" and "It-Traġedja ta' l-Iljunfant Li Ried Jidħol f'Gaġġa ta' l-Għasafar" in Maltese, while Fatima Naoot read the Arabic version (by Walid Nabhan). The evening of poetry moderated by Alexandra Büchler
 

In the Conference Centre Theatre of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Sunday, 18 May 2008, 19:30 – 21:00), Adrian Grima read "Ħallejt Ġenbejk fuq Ruħi," "Kieku Kelli Lanċa Żgħira," and "It-Traġedja ta' l-Iljunfant Li Ried Jidħol f'Gaġġa ta' l-Għasafar" in Maltese, and "Qamar?" in English ("Moon?" translated by Maria Grech Ganado). He also read "fwd. midnight invasion" to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Nakba (or Catastrophe) of the hundreds of thousands of Palestinian people killed and displaced in 1948 and 400 villages razed to the ground. The Arabic version of these poems by Walid Nabhan were read by the Egyptian poet Fatima Naoot

Literature Across Frontiers is celebrating the Year of Intercultural Dialogue 2008 with a landmark exchange of literary culture between Europe and the Arab World. A collection of contemporary books is being donated to the Alexandria Library to highlight the linguistic and literary diversity of today's Europe.

Maltese Literature in the Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Adrian Grima presented a number of books of Maltese Literature translated into English on behalf of Inizjamed and Midsea Books to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. The books are:

Books of Maltese literature written in Maltese and translated into English:

• Ellul Mercer, Ġużè. Shadows of the Truth. Malta: Midsea Books, 2003. Translated from the original, Leli ta’ Ħaż-Żgħir (1938), by Godwin Ellul. Novel. 

• Kilin. Angelo’s Eyes and other stories. Malta: Midsea Books, 2003. Translated by the author. Short stories.

• Mifsud, Immanuel. Happy Weekend. Malta: Midsea Books, 2006. Translated by Maria Grech Ganado, Albert Gatt, Rose Marie Caruana, and Mary Darmanin. Short stories.

A series of six books of Contemporary Maltese Literature in Translation. Various translators. Ed. Adrian Grima.

• Azzopardi, Clare. Others, Across. Malta: Inizjamed, Midsea Books. 2005. Short stories.

• Borg, Stanley. Waiting for Green. Traffic Light Thoughts. Malta: Inizjamed, Midsea Books. 2005. Poems/prose.

• Bugeja, Norbert. Stay, Fairy Tale, Stay! Memoirs of a city cast adrift. Malta: Inizjamed, Midsea Books. 2005. Poems.

• Grech Ganado, Maria. Memory Rape. Malta: Inizjamed, Midsea Books. 2005. Poems.

• Grima, Adrian. The Tragedy of the Elephant. Malta: Inizjamed, Midsea Books. 2005. Poems.

• Inguanez, Simone. Water, Fire, Earth and I. Malta: Inizjamed, Midsea Books. 2005. Poems.

Maltese literature written in English:

• Ebejer, Francis. The Maltese Baron... and I Lucian. Malta: Midsea Books, 2002. Novel.

See also Reading in Egypt - European Literature Today