Thur 11 – Sat. 13 Sept, 2008 – Couvre Porte, Birgu – 8.00pm
Organised by LAF and Inizjamed
in collaboration with the Birgu Local Council and with the support of the Malta Tourism Authority, the National Book Centre of Greece, and the Icelandic Literature Fund
Invited writers: Christos Chryssopoulos (Greece), Hassan el Ouazzani (Morocco), Claudia Gauci (Malta), Polona Glavan (Slovenia), Simone Inguanez (Malta), Caldon Mercieca (Malta), Suzan Sahori (Palestine), Karl Schembri (Malta), Aðalsteinn Ásberg Sigurðsson (Iceland), and Paola Turroni (Italy). Alexandra Büchler is director of Literature Across Frontiers.
The funk band Zizza Ensemble will be playing on Saturday night.
The Maltese short film Ħalib ix-Xitan (Hell’s Despite), directed by Jule Belami and produced by Dawwara Pictures, will be shown for the first time in Malta on Thursday night.
The writers will also be taking part in the LAF Malta International Literary Translation Workshop 2008
Coordination: Clare Azzopardi, Alexandra Büchler, Adrian Grima, Immanuel Mifsud
Festival Programme – Couvre Porte, Birgu, 8.00pm
Thursday 11 Sept
Claudia Gauci
Suzan Sahori
Christos Chryssopoulos
Film: Ħalib ix-Xitan (Hell’s Despite)
Friday 12 Sept
Caldon Mercieca
Polona Glavan
Simone Inguanez
Aðalsteinn Ásberg Sigurðsson
Saturday 13 Sept
Karl Schembri
Paola Turroni
Hassan El Ouazzani
Zizza Ensemble
This year’s third edition of the Malta Mediterranean Literature Festival will be held at Couvre Porte in Birgu (Vittoriosa, in picture) on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 11, 12 and 13th September, 2008. The readings start at 8.00pm and entrance to all events is free.
The invited poets and short story writers are Christos Chryssopoulos (Greece), Hassan el Ouazzani (Morocco), Claudia Gauci, Polona Glavan (Slovenia), Simone Inguanez, Caldon Mercieca, Suzan Sahori (Palestine), Karl Schembri, Paola Turroni (Italy), and Aðalsteinn Ásberg Sigurðsson (Iceland).
The Festival, which is being organized by Inizjamed and Literature Across Frontiers in collaboration with the Birgu Local Council and with support from the Malta Tourism Authority, coincides with a one-week residential literary translation workshop held in Malta.
The Maltese funk band Zizza Ensemble have confirmed their participation in this year’s festival.
The first edition of this festival was held at St. James Cavalier in September 2006, and the second was held at Couvre Porte in Birgu in September 2007.
Participants
Christos Chryssopoulos (1968) is a novelist, essayist and translator. He was born in Athens and studied Economics in Athens, and Psychology and Social Sciences in the UK. He is among the most prolific young prose writers on the Greek literary scene. He has authored four novels, most recently Imaginary Museum (2005); a volume of essays (The Language Box, 2006), a collection of short stories (Napolean Delastos’ Recipes, 1997), and a novella (The Parthenon Bomber, 1996). Since 1999 he has collaborated with artist Diane Neumaier on several art projects. Their artists’ book, The Black Dress, was published in the USA by RCIPP in 2002 and their show Encounters was held at the Reykjavik Museum of Art in 2003.
Christos has been featured in many anthologies of contemporary Greek fiction and writes regularly on literary theory for the journal Diavazo. He translates from English and also writes criticism for Athenian newspapers and magazines. He has won a number of grants and has been invited to writers’ centres in Sweden, the Czech Republic, Russia, Scotland, the USA and Iceland.
His work is available in five languages. His website is here.
Hassan el Ouazzani (reading in Medellin)
Verżjoni bil-Malti
Hassan El Ouazzani (1970) is one of Morocco’s most important young poets. He belongs to the generation of poets who in the 1990s made the prose-poem leap into prominence in Moroccan poetry. This generation, which also includes poets such as Jalal El Hakmaoui, Mahmoud Abdelghani, Abdelilah Salhi and Yassin Adnan, has effected a postmodern paradigm shift in the poetry scene in Morocco.
Hassan El Ouazzani’s poems draw considerably on mythology, but in a postmodern spirit, blending mythical allusions with everyday experience. His poetry also draws on surrealist imagery, used deliberately to deflate the Romantic and Modernist notion of the poet-hero so dear to previous generations. Moreover, what makes El Ouazzani’s poetry so enjoyable is to a great extent its aura of intimacy and the simplicity of its language, which the poet achieves without sacrificing depth and meaning. Of him German poet Tobias Burghardt wrote: “The poet, whose presence was noted at the Medellin Poetry Festival in Colombia, uses paradox to create a coherent poetic system.” His first collection of poems, Hudnatun ma (A Truce), published in 1997 by the Union of Moroccan Writers, exemplifies all these characteristics.
Formerly the secretary-general of the Moroccan House of Poetry, Hassan El Ouazzani has also published La production littéraire marocaine 1929-1999: Bio-bibliographie et étude socio-bibliométrique (Rabat: Union of Moroccan Writers, 2002). His poems have been translated and published in diverse international poetry magazines such as Prometeo (Colombia), Kalathos (Venezuela), Ila (Germany), and Les soirs rouges (Canada). El Ouazzani has participated in various international festivals of poetry, such as Medellin (Colombia), Trois-Rivières (Canada), Lodève (France), Maillorca (Spain), Istanbul (Turkey), and London (United Kingdom). His poems have also appeared in Spanish Poemas para la vida, translated from the Arabic by Jimena Londono (Mexico: collectivo Zone Alta, 2001). In French he has published Répertoire des écrivains marocains (Rabat: Union of Moroccan Writers, 1993). Read poems by and articles about Hassan El Ouazzani here.
Dr. El Ouzzani finished his doctorate in literature in July 2008.
(Slightly adapted from text by Norddine Zouitni)
Claudia Gauci (1976) writes poetry in Maltese. She studied French and Maltese at the University of Malta, graduating in 1997, and has worked as a teacher of French and as a translator. She joined Inizjamed in 2002 and has participated in workshops with local and foreign writers.
Her poetry has been published in F’Kull Belt hemm Kantuniera (Every City has a Corner, Inizjamed, 2003), Ktieb għall-Hruq (A Book to be Burnt, Inizjamed, 2005) and The Drunken Boat. She has participated in various projects, amongst them Borders (2003), the Biennial Un Anno di Passione (Naples, 2005) and Steps (2006).
Read some of her poetry translated into English by Maria Grech Ganado here.
Polona Glavan (1974) is a novelist, short story writer and translator from English. She is renowned as a keen traveller; and it was her travel experiences that first inspired her to write. Her debut novel Noč v Evropi, (A Night in Europe) describes one of her many journeys, an Inter-Rail trip through Europe.
A graduate of comparative literature and English, Polona Glavan has been present on the Slovenian literary scene for over a decade. For most of the 1990s her stories were published in literary magazines; she appeared in the anthology of short stories (Čas kratke zgodbe, Beletrina 1999) and won the Student Short Story Award in 1997. Noč v Evropi (A Night in Europe) was shortlisted for the Kresnik Award for the best Slovenian novel of the year, while her short story collection Gverilci (Guerillas, 2004) won the Zlata ptica Award for outstanding achievements of young artists. Her stories have been translated into more than ten languages while Noč v Evropi was published in Czech translation in 2007.
Noč v Evropi continues the tradition of younger fiction authors, tackling the biggest fiction challenge – a novel – already in the first attempt. The general structure of the text is already expressed by the title. The vision of Jim Jarmusch from the film The Night on Earth is shifted in Polona’s version from taxies to a night express train Paris – Amsterdam, in a time span of ten hours. Characters from throughout the world finding themselves on a train are brought together by Interrail tickets in their pockets, a bottle of water within the reach, the youth no longer naive, the adulthood not yet definite, the summer whose no man’s time on no man’s land offers an opportunity to summarize old loves and discover new ones, and of course the chaos of personal luggage in character’s heads where Polona delves as silence falls in the compartments.
By contrast, her second book, a collection of stories titled Gverilci focuses on everyday and seemingly commonplace themes such as family, children, young couples, city life; but hidden under this surface are acts of violence, sexual abuse, suicide and mental illness. With Gverilci, the author has entered the ranks of socially engaged writers, taking leave of minimalism and tackling a kind of writing that is both socially critical and warmly humorous.
Polona Glavan is currently working on her new short story collection as well as on her second novel.
Simone Inguanez (1971) graduated in law, criminology and youth studies and undertook training in Gestalt psychotherapy and family mediation. She now lives in Kalkara and works mainly as a reviser in the field of law with a leading translation firm based in Malta. Simone Inguanez published her first collection of poetry ftit mara ftit tifla in 2005 (Klabb Kotba Maltin). This was soon after the publication of fire, water, earth and i, a short selection of her works translated into English (Inizjamed, Midsea Boooks). A number of her works have also appeared in anthologies, journals and similar publications, while others were set to music.
Simone Inguanez was literary editor of the Maltese weekly newspaper lL-GENS illum for a number of years, a task she fulfilled on behalf of the Mediterranean cultural organisation Inizjamed.
In 2004 Inguanez participated in the seventh edition of the poetry festival Voix de la Méditerranée held annually in Lodève. In 2005 she read at the XII BJCEM biennale dei giovani artisti dell’europa e del mediterraneo – Un anno di passione held in Naples (Italy) and in 2007 she was Malta’s writer-in-residence for the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa. In 2008 she participated in a literary translation workshop in Riga (Latvia) and read in Budapest (Hungary). In 2008 she will be reading once again in Lecce, after having read there in 2007 during the annual Recital dei Poeti del Mediterraneo.
Inguanez’s work has been described as highly idiosyncratic, especially in her use of rhythm and tone. Her early work is mainly an exploration of her intense inner self, minutely analysing its interaction with what or whom she experiences. Her new work seems to be directed outward, focusing more on what she encounters and finding patterns in it which often border on the metaphysical. In both cases, her syntax surprises with its experimental musicality and her tone can just as suddenly switch pitch. The condensation achieved through this approach to words is skilfully controlled by a harmonious blending which is both pleasing and delightful.
Caldon Mercieca (1976) is co-founder of awl, a small independent publishing house specialising in contemporary Maltese poetry, with which he has released two poetry publications, Moghlint (2002) and Majorkini (2003). During the past four years, his writing-cycles have become increasingly based on visual images and photography taken from catalogues of art exhibitions, fashion design and home decoration.
He is active in theatre theory research in the context of The Icarus Performance Project Malta (www.icarusproject.info), and has contributed to workshops and conferences of the Summer University of the Performing Arts and to the Icarus Project publications, the latest being on silence and vocalisation in performance in Lamentations of Cain: Dramaturgy of a Performance Process (2006). His academic interest and research in philosophy focus mainly on writing as a way for the creation and cultivation of the self. He is also a student of Sanskrit at the School of Practical Philosophy in Valletta. Currently in final preparations for the publication of a cycle of writings based on etchings by symbolist Belgian artist Felicien Rops.
The Palestinian writer and activist Suzan Sahori from Bethlehem documents the everyday lives of people she meets as a fair trader and as a social and cultural activist in Beit Sahour.
Her writings, part journalistic, part literary, focus on the misery of common people rather than on the politics and history that have brought about that misery. An organization in Dublin is working on a publication which will bring together her writings about every day in Occupied Palestine. Many of these short pieces, similar to blog entries, are available on the US-based website www.hcef.org.
Suzan Sahori is the International Relations Director of the Fair Trade Organization, The Holy Land Handicraft Cooperative Society. (Picture of Suzan Sahori published in Illum)
Karl Schembri (1978) is a Maltese poet, short story writer and editor of the independent weekly newspaper Malta Today. He is a sociology graduate from the University of Malta and has written a collection of short stories, Taħt il-Kappa tax-Xemx (Malta: Minima, 2002) and a novel, Il-Manifest tal-Killer (Malta: Choppy, 2006).
“On an official level,” he writes about his novel, “Malta is somehow bound to appear more Catholic than the Pope. Out on the streets, there’s a silent yet subversive Malta rebelling in its own way. That is essentially Mario Brincat. The main character of my story.” In October 2008 Lemonhead Productions will present a stage adaptation of Il-Manifest tal-Killer.
He published his first poems with three other poets in the anthology Frekwenzi ta’ Spirti fis-Sakra (Malta: 1997). Il-manifest tal-killer was censored by the University of Malta’s radio station, Campus FM, after the management learnt that it was going to be read in the literary programme series Wara Arrigo in January 2007. He is also founding chairman of the Journalists’ Committee.
Aðalsteinn Ásberg Sigurðsson (1955) was born in Húsavík, north Iceland, and grew up in the region. After attending the Commercial College of Iceland in Reykjavík, he studied Icelandic language, music and acting. In 1977 he made his literary debut with a book of poetry, Ósánar lendur (Virgin Soil). Since then he has published 12 books of poetry and translated poetry, one novel and 10 children´s books. Apart from the books he has produced many recordings of his lyrics and songs. His most recent books of poetry are Eyðibýli (Abandoned Farms) 2004, with photographs by Nökkvi Eliasson, and Hjartaborg (Borough of the Heart) 2007. Sigurðsson lives in Reykjavík as a full-time writer, songwriter and publisher of music and literature.
Paola Turroni (1971) was born in Monza, Italy where she studied the classics until she started to roam, to change lives and cities, for study and for the fun of it, until she settled in Luino on the Lago Maggiore. She attended the DAMS in Bologna and the European School of Theatre and Cinema in Milan. At present she works as an teacher within the residential community Asilo Mariuccia.
She holds cinema, communication and theatre workshops in schools, within associations, at youth centres, for children and for adults, with particular emphasis on adolescent angst, on intercultural relations and on women’s issues.
She has collaborated with Rai Radiodue, the Natural Histroy Museum of Milan, the Isia at Urbino, the Aba of Bologna, the Università Popolare at Luino, the Casa Circondariale di Varese, the Comune of Cesena and the Comune of Luino. She holds readings and performances in various cities, amongst which Bologna, Milan, Rimini, Varese, Castrocaro, Ravenna, Luino, Santarcangelo, Cesenatico, Florence, Monza, Parma.
Her work is based also on the search for effective ways to share poerty, both at a vocal-instrumental level as well as at performance level. She collaborates with drummer Antonio Azzarito). Her works have appeared in various journals, magazines and on internet sites.
In 2000 she published her volume of “animal” poetry (Fara Editore, Rimini).
In 2003 she published her book of narrative “Due mani di colore” (“Two coloured hands”) (Medusa Editore, Milano), in collaboration with Sabrina Foschini.
In 2003 she published her collection of poems “Il vincolo del volo” (“The chains of flight”) (Raffelli Editore, Rimini), of which a selection has been issued translated into English for the American journal “How2”.
In 2003 she is included in the anthology “I colori delle donne” (“The colours of women”) 2002-2003” (Lìbrati Editrice, Ascoli Piceno)
In 2004 she collaborated as translator on “I surrealisti francesi” (“The French Surrealists”) (Stampa Alternativa, Viterbo).
In 2004 she was invited to the International Poetry Festival in Malta.
In 2004 she is present in the anthology “Parco Poesia 2004” (Guaraldi, Rimini)
In 2006 she is included in the book-journal “Il segreto delle fragole” (“The secrets of the strawberries”) (Lietocolle, Como).
In 2007 she is included in the anthology “Corale” (“Coral”) (Le Voci della Luna, Bologna).
In 2008 she is included in the anthology “12 poetesse italiane” (“12 Italian women poets”) Nuova Editrice Magenta, Varese.
(Translated from Italian by Sandra Vassallo)
Zizza Ensemble (Malta) is an angular funk foursome with a cartoonish swagger and a wicked streak. The band plays an (inevitably) eclectic mix of Funk, Ska, Jazz and Blues Rock. Zizza Ensemble’s first incarnation dates back to the year 2005, when a group of young people with an interest in swing and bossa nova decided to put together a band. After some line-up changes, the band grew disillusioned with its musical direction, and ditched the jazz standards and jam numbers in favour of its own brand of malevolent funk.
The members of Zizza Ensemble are Steve Delia on guitars, Ruth Abela on saxophone, Charles Cassar on bass, and Mark ‘Zizza’ Abela on drums. Although relatively new to the local scene and made up of young and up-and-coming musicians, the band has already played several successful gigs, including shows in unlikely venues such as the Vittoriosa and Marsalforn waterfronts. Poet Adrian Grima performed with Zizza Ensemble at the fair trade festival WorldFest 2007. Listen to Zizza Ensemble
Alexandra Büchler (UK/Czech Republic) was born in Prague and was educated there, in Thessaloniki and Melbourne, Australia. She has lived in Great Britain since 1989. She is the founding director of Literature Across Frontiers, a European programme of literary exchange based in the UK, member of the board of Culture Action Europe (formerly European Forum for Arts and Heritage) and of the Translators’ Association UK.
She is editorial director of Transcript the European Internet Review of Books and Writing, and editor of the international series of contemporary poetry anthologies New Voices from Europe and Beyond at Arc Publications. A translator of fiction, poetry, theatre plays and texts on modern art and architecture from English, Czech and Greek, she has translated over twenty-five works, including books by authors such as J. M. Coetzee, David Malouf, Jean Rhys, Janice Galloway and Rhea Galanaki into Czech. She has also edited and part-translated a number of anthologies, including This Side of Reality: Modern Czech Writing (1996), Allskin and Other Tales by Contemporary Czech Women (1998). Her most recent publications are A Fine Line: New Poetry from Central and Eastern Europe, Arc (2004) and Six Czech Poets, Arc (2007).
PRESS RELEASE
Ten Writers for the Malta Mediterranean Literature Festival
Adrian Grima
Six foreign and four Maltese short story writers and poets, a Funk band and a singer songwriter will be participating in this year’s third edition of the unconventional Malta Mediterranean Literature Festival at Couvre Porte in Birgu on Thursday 11th, Friday 12th and Saturday 13th September, 2008. This is the only international literary festival of its kind held in Malta. Moreover, the Maltese art film Ħalib ix-Xitan (Hell’s Despite), directed by Jule Belami, will be shown in Malta for the first time on Thursday.
The readings start at 8.00pm and entrance to all events is free. Each evening will feature three different writers. This will also be a festival of languages, although most of the works will be read mainly in Maltese or English. The Festival is being organized by Inizjamed and Literature Across Frontiers, which is part-financed by the Culture 2007 project of the EU, in collaboration with the Birgu Local Council.
Three Different Nights
The writers reading on Thursday are Greek novelist Chris Chryssopoulos, Maltese poet Claudia Gauci, and Palestinian writer and activist Suzan Sahori from Bethlehem. Slovenian novelist and short story writer Polona Glavan, Maltese poets Caldon Mercieca and Simone Inguanez, and Icelandic poet and singer songwriter Adalsteinn Asberg Sigurdson, will be reading on Friday. Also on Friday, the Maltese-Palestinian writer Walid Nabhan will pay homage to Mahmoud Darwish who recently passed away. The writers who will be reading on Saturday are Moroccan poet Hassan el Ouazzani, Italian poet and performer Paola Turroni, and novelist, short story writer and poet Karl Schembri. The Maltese funk band Zizza Ensemble will be accompanying the authors in their readings on Saturday night. Some of the poets will be performing, rather than reading their work.
The Festival coincides with a one-week residential literary translation workshop held in Malta in which the writers will translate each other’s works. Alexandra Büchler, professional translator and director of Literature Across Frontiers, will be in charge of the workshop.
Short Stories, Poetry and Music
Christos Chryssopoulos (1968) is a novelist, essayist and translator. He is among the most prolific young prose writers on the Greek literary scene and has been featured in many anthologies of contemporary Greek fiction. Claudia Gauci’s (1976) poetry has been published in F’Kull Belt hemm Kantuniera (Inizjamed, 2003), Ktieb għall-Ħruq (Inizjamed, 2005) and The Drunken Boat (USA). In 2005 she read her poetry in Naples. In her writings, which are part journalistic, part literary, the Palestinian writer and activist Suzan Sahori from Bethlehem documents the everyday lives of the people living under Israeli Occupation. She chooses to focus on the misery of common people rather than on the politics and history that have brought about that misery.
On Thursday, 11th September, “Ħalib ix-Xitan” (“Hell’s Despite”), a short art film in Maltese with English subtitles written and directed by Jule Belami and produced by Dawwara Pictures, will be shown for the first time in Malta after being premiered at the Sarajevo Film Festival. It was produced by Peter Mercieca and Maria Muscat. The Director of Photography and editor is Jean Pierre Gatt, while sound is by Paul Preca Trapani and music by Renzo Spiteri. The film presents Antonella Galea Loffreda and Bernardo Riolo in the main roles.
Polona Glavan’s (1974) debut novel Noč v Evropi, (A Night in Europe) describes one of her many journeys, an Inter-Rail trip through Europe. By contrast, in her second book, a collection of stories titled Gverilci, she entered the ranks of socially engaged writers, taking leave of minimalism and tackling a kind of writing that is both socially critical and warmly humorous. Simone Inguanez (1971) has published two collections of poetry, ftit mara ftit tifla (Klabb Kotba Maltin, 2005) and fire, water, earth and i, and has read her work in Lodève, Naples, the USA, Riga (Latvia), Budapest and Lecce. Caldon Mercieca (1976) is co-founder of awl, a small independent publishing house specialising in contemporary Maltese poetry, with which he has released two poetry publications, Mogħlint (2002) and Majorkini (2003). He is currently finishing a cycle of writings based on etchings by symbolist Belgian artist Felicien Rops.
Also performing on Friday is writer and singer songwriter Adalsteinn Asberg Sigurdson (1955), who was born and brought up in Húsavík, north Iceland. Since 1977 he has published 12 books of poetry and translated poetry, one novel and 10 children´s books. Apart from the books he has produced many recordings of his lyrics and songs. Sigurdsson lives in Reykjavík as a full-time writer, songwriter and publisher of music and literature.
Hassan El Ouazzani (1970) is one of Morocco’s most important young poets. He belongs to the generation of poets who has effected a postmodern paradigm shift in the poetry scene in Morocco. Of him German poet Tobias Burghardt has written: “The poet, whose presence was noted at the Medellin Poetry Festival in Colombia, uses paradox to create a coherent poetic system.” Karl Schembri (1978) has written a collection of short stories, Taħt il-Kappa tax-Xemx (2002) and a novel, Il-Manifest tal-Killer (2006), which will be presented as a theatre production in October. His first poems appeared in the anthology, Frekwenzi ta’ Spirti fis-Sakra.
Another performer on Saturday will be Paola Turroni (1971), who was born in Monza, Italy, where she studied the classics until she started to roam, to change lives and cities, for study and for the fun of it, until she settled in Luino on the Lago Maggiore. She holds cinema, communication and theatre workshops. She has collaborated, amongst others with Rai Radiodue and has published books of poetry and short stories.
The participation of Maltese Funk band Zizza Ensemble in last year’s festival, and their collaboration with the guest writers, was a great success. So this year they were once again invited to close off this three-day festival. The members of the band are Steve Delia on guitars, Ruth Abela on saxophone, Charles Cassar on bass, and Mark ‘Zizza’ Abela on drums.
The Festival is being held with the support of the Malta Tourism Authority, the National Book Centre of Greece, and the Icelandic Literature Fund. The FIVE project for intercultural dialogue and Koperattiva Kummerċ Ġust made Suzan Sahori’s participation in this festival possible.
For more information about the Malta Mediterranean Literature Festival and the LAF International Literary Translation Workshop visit www.inizjamed.org.
Festival Mediterranju tal-Letteratura ta’ Malta
11-13 ta’ Sett, Couvre Porte, il-Birgu, 8.00pm
Programm tal-Festival
Il-Ħamis, 11 ta’ Settembru
Claudia Gauci
Suzan Sahori (il-Palestina)
Christos Chryssopoulos (il-Greċja)
Film: Ħalib ix-Xitan (Hell’s Despite)
Il-Ġimgħa, 12 ta’ Settembru
Caldon Mercieca
Polona Glavan (is-Slovenja)
Simone Inguanez
Aðalsteinn Ásberg Sigurðsson (l-Iżlanda)
Is-Sibt, 13 ta’ Settembru
Karl Schembri
Paola Turroni (l-Italja)
Hassan El Ouazzani (il-Marokk)
Mużika: Zizza Ensemble
Festival Mediterranju tal-Letteratura ta’ Malta
Il-Festival Mediterranju tal-Letteratura ta’ Malta huwa l-uniku Festival Internazzjonali tal-Letteratura li jsir f’Malta. Din is-sena hija t-tielet darba li se jsir u bħas-sena l-oħra se jsir f’Couvre Porte, il-Birgu. Il-Festival se jkun mimli b’vuċijiet ġodda u b’uħud mill-aqwa awturi mid-dinja letterarja. B’kollox se jieħdu sehem għaxar kittieba. Il-Festival jibda l-Ħamis, 11 ta’ Settembru u jispiċċa s-Sibt 13 ta’ Settembru. Id-dħul huwa b’xejn u s-serati jibdew fit-8.00pm.
Programm tal-Festival
Il-Ħamis, 11 ta’ Settembru se jaqraw Claudia Gauci, Suzan Sahori (mill-Palestina) u Christos Chryssopoulos (mill-Greċja). Se jintwera wkoll film qasir bl-isem ta’ Ħalib ix-Xitan (Hell’s Despite). Il-Ġimgħa, 12 ta’ Settembru se jaqraw Caldon Mercieca, Polona Glavan (mis-Slovenja), Simone Inguanez (fir-ritratt) u Aðalsteinn Ásberg Sigurðsson (mill-Iżlanda). Is-Sibt, 13 ta’ Settembru se jaqraw Karl Schembri, Paola Turroni (mill-Italja), Hassan El Ouazzani (mill-Marokk) u se jkun hemm ukoll il-grupp li jdoqq mużika funk Zizza Ensemble.
L-Awturi Li Se Jieħdu Sehem
Christos Chryssopoulos (1968) huwa rumanzier u traduttur. Ix-xogħol tiegħu deher f’uħud mill-aqwa antoloġiji Griegi u jikteb regolarment fil-rivista letterarja Diazavo. Suzan Sahori hija attivista Palestinjana minn Betlem li fil-kitbiet ġurnalistiċi tagħha b’element letterarju tiddokumenta l-ħajja ta’ kuljum tal-Palestinjani fl-Artijiet Okkupati minn Iżrael. Hassan El Ouazzani (1970) huwa wieħed mill-iktar poeti importanti fil-Marokk. Ix-xogħlijiet tiegħu inqraw f’diversi festivals fosthom f’Medellin, il-Kolombja, Trois-Rivières (Il-Kanada), Lodève (Franza), Majorka, Istanbul u Londra. Polona Glavan (1974) hija rumanziera, kittieba ta’ stejjer qosra u traduttriċi. Fost il-kotba li ppubblikat insibu r-rumanz Noč v Evropi, (Lejl fl-Ewropa) u l-ktieb ta’ novelli Gverilci.
Ix-xogħlijet ta’ Claudia Gauci (1976) dehru F’Kull Belt hemm Kantuniera (2003), Ktieb għall-Ħruq (2005) u fuq The Drunken Boat (L-Amerka). Claudia Gauci qrat ix-xogħol tagħha fil-bjennali taż-żgħażagħ f’Napli fl-2005. Simone Inguanez (1971) ippubblikat 2 kotba ta’ poeżiji ftit mara ftit tifla (2005) u fire, water, earth and i. Ix-xogħol tagħha nqara f’diversi festivals fosthom f’Lodève, Napli, Riga, Budapest, Lecce u l-Amerka. Caldon Mercieca (1976) ppubblika żewġ kotba ta’ poeżiji, Mogħlint (2002) u Majorkini (2003), u bħalissa qed jaħdem fuq serje ta’ kitbiet ibbażati fuq l-inċiżjonijiet tal-artist simbolista Belġjan Felicien Rops.
Karl Schembri (1978) kiteb kemm poeżiji kif ukoll sett ta’ novelli miġburin f’Taħt il-Kappa tax-Xemx (2002) u r-rumanz Il-Manifest tal-Killer (2006) li ġie addattat għat-teatru u se jittella’ f’Ottubru li ġej. Bħalissa qed jaħdem fuq rumanz ġdid. Paola Turroni (1971) studjat il-letteratura klassika u tmexxi taħriġ fl-oqsma taċ-ċinema, il-komunikazzjoni u t-teatru. Ippubblikat diversi kotba ta’ poeżiji u novelli. Aðalsteinn Ásberg Sigurðsson (1955) huwa poeta u kantawtur li ppubblika 12-il ktieb tal-poeżija, rumanz u għaxar kotba għat-tfal. L-aħħar xogħlijiet tiegħu huma Eyðibýli (Irziezet Abbandunati, 2004), u Hjartaborg (Muniċipju tal-Qalb, 2007).
Il-film Ħalib ix-Xitan (Hell’s Despite)
Bil-Malti, sottotitli bl-Ingliż. Intwera l-ewwel darba fil-Festival tal-Films ta’ Sarajevo. Direttur: Jule Belami. Produzzjoni ta’ Peter Mercieca u Maria Muscat għal Dawwara Pictures. Direttur tal-Fotografija u Editing: Jean Pierre Gatt. Sound: Paul Preca Trapani. Mużika: Renzo Spiteri. Screenplay: Jule Belami. Jieħdu sehem: Antonella Galea Loffreda, Bernardo Riolo. Ħajr lil Vince Briffa
Dan il-Festival qed jiġi organizzat minn Inizjamed u Literature Across Frontiers bil-kollaborazzjoni tal-Kunsill Lokali tal-Birgu u bl-għajnuna tal-Awtorità Maltija tat-Turiżmu, taċ-Ċentru Nazzjonali tal-Ktieb tal-Greċja u l-Fond Iżlandiż għal-Letteratura. Inizjamed hija waħda mill-ko-organizzaturi tal-proġett Literature Across Frontiers li jirċievi fondi mill-programm Kultura 2007 ta’ l-UE. Suzan Sahori qed tieħu sehem fil-Festival bil-kollaborazzjoni tal-proġett dwar id-djalogu interkulturali FIVE u l-Koperattiva Kummerċ Ġust.
Għal aktar informazzjoni żur is-sit www.inizjamed.org.
Clare Azzopardi
The Malta Mediterranean Literature Festival in the Press
Servizz estensiv fuq l-Aħbarijiet tal-PBS mill-ġurnalista Antonia Micallef (10.09.08)
Articles have appeared in
Malta Today (Sunday, 31.08.08 and 07.09.08)
Malta Today (midweek, 03.09.08 and 10.09.08)
Illum (07.09.08)
Illum (14.09.08) – Nostaliġija ta’ Libertà. Franica Pulis tintervista lil Suzan Sahori
The Sunday Times (07.09.08)
The Sunday Times (14.09.08) – Veronica Stivala interviews Suzan Sahori
The Malta Independent (Sunday, 07.09.08)
Il-Ġensillum (06.09.08 and 13.09.08)
The Times (Weekender, 13.09.08) – Article and interview with Maltese writers by Roderick Mallia
Babelmed
Fondation René Seydoux
ANSAmed
Kunsill Lokali tal-Birgu – Birgu Local Council
MaltaMedia: Article and interview with Adrian Grima (Sep 11, 2008)
di-ve
Malta Council for Culture and the Arts
