English version below.
Għoxrin sena ta’ sforz u tama
Nhar il-Ġimgħa, 9 ta’ Diċembru, Inizjamed u Jesuit Refugee Service Malta (JRS), se jingħaqdu għal Palk Ħieles ġewwa l-Undercroft, il-Belt Valletta fis-19:30. Dan il-Palk Ħieles se jkun marbut mal-għoxrin sena anniversarju tal-ewwel żbark kbir ta’ immigranti ġewwa Malta. Se jkun hemm diversi mistiedna speċjali li kitbiethom tmiss it-tbatija f’dawn il-komunitajiet ħafna drabi mwarrba u preġudikati mis-soċjetà Maltija. Fl-ispirtu tal-Palk Ħieles, il-pubbliku huwa mistieden li jaqra xi xogħlijiet tiegħu wkoll, idealment marbuta ma’ din it-tema, imma mhux biss. Narawkom hemm!
Aġġornamenti: https://www.facebook.com/events/495456552533113/
Post: The Undercroft Gourmet Restaurant, Triq it-Teatru l-Qadim (taħt il-Katidral Anglikan ta’ San Pawl), il-Belt Valletta.
https://goo.gl/maps/R2xHdEQeNXp37kCz7
Twenty years of Struggle and Hope
On Friday 9th December, Inizjamed and Jesuit Refugee Services Malta (JRS) will collaborate on the next Open Mic event which will be held at the Undercroft in Valletta at 19:30. This Open Mic is an open space ‘commemorating the 20 years of struggle and hope of asylum seekers in Malta’. There will be several special guests whose works reflect the pain and suffering that these communities, often prejudiced and forgotten by Maltese society, go through. Keeping with the spirit of the Open Mic, members of the public are invited to read their work, ideally linked with this theme but all performances are welcome. See you there.
Updates: https://www.facebook.com/events/495456552533113/
Location: The Undercroft Gourmet Restaurant, Triq it-Teatru l-Qadim (beneath St Paul’s Anglican Cathedral), Valletta.
https://goo.gl/maps/R2xHdEQeNXp37kCz7
Mistiedna Speċjali / Guest Authors
Glen Calleja
Glen Calleja (www.glencalleja.com) huwa kittieb, legatur u artist multidixxiplinari. Għall-qalbu għandu l-poeżija u x-xogħol artiġjanali artistiku. Imexxi Kotba Calleja u huwa ko-fundatur ta’ Studio Solipsis u Fondazzjoni HELA fost l-oħrajn.
Glen Calleja is a writer, bookbinder, and multidisciplinary artist. He loves poetry and artistic artisanal work. He runs Kotba Calleja and is a cofounder of Studio Solipsis and the HELA Foundation, among others.
Antoine Cassar
Antoine Cassar ilu jemigra minn qabel ma twieled, u m’hemmx li jsib postu. Diversi kitbiet tiegħu jmissu mal-migrazzjoni, fosthom Passaport (2009; 3et edizzjoni EDE Books, 2019), poeżija twila li ġiet adattata minn kumpaniji teatrali f’għadd ta’ pajjiżi; Mappa tal-Mediterran (Għaqda tal-Malti, 2013); u 8 ħajki bla fruntieri, li ġiet adattata mill-grupp Dance Beyond Borders għall-Ġimgħa tar-Rifuġjati 2022. L-aħħar ktieb ta’ Cassar, Erbgħin Jum (EDE, 2017), dwar it-trawmi tat-tfulija, is-saħħa mentali u l-mixi bħala awtoterapija, rebaħ il-Premju Nazzjonali tal-Ktieb, u kien fil-lista l-qasira tal-premju European Poet of Freedom, fil-Polonja.
Antoine Cassar has been emigrating since before he was born, and can’t seem to settle anywhere. Migration is central to several of his works, among them Passaport (2009; 3rd edition EDE Books, 2019), a long poem adapted for the stage by theatre groups in a number of countries; Mappa tal-Mediterran (Għaqda tal-Malti, 2013); and 8 no-border haiku, recently adapted by Dance Beyond Borders for a spectacle as part of Refugee Week 2022. Cassar’s latest book, Forty Days (EDE, 2017), on childhood trauma, mental health, and walking as self-therapy, was awarded the National Book Prize, and shortlisted for the European Poet of Freedom award, based in Poland.
Walid Nabhan
Walid Nabhan, was born in Amman, Jordan in 1966. His family originated in Hebron in Palestine. Nabhan was first educated at United Nations and Jordanian schools in Amman. He arrived in Malta as a science student in 1990 and furthered his studies in the UK where he graduated in Biomedical Sciences from Bristol University. In 2003, he gained a Master degree in Human Rights and Democratisation from the University of Malta. Walid has worked in life sciences since his graduation.
Walid Nabhan has published three collections of short stories in Maltese; Back Home and other stories which never happened, A Voice of Clay, and Between Two Betweens. Two novels; The Exodus of Storks and The De-Railed. Two collections of poetry; On My Way to Her and Of Flesh and Blood.
He translated several books and poetry collections from Maltese to his native Arabic. In 2014, he won the Malta National Book Prize and in 2017 he won the European Union Prize for Literature (EUPL) for his novel Exodus of Storks.
Jean Paul Borg
Jean Paul Borg (1980) qatta’ daqs għoxrin sena jaħdem fin-numri, imma u mbagħad irrealizza li anki dawk jistgħu jinħadmu, u ddeċieda li jisma’ mit-taħbit ta’ qalbu. Fl-2018 daħal l-Università bħala student matur u beda jistudja l-Malti. Il-COVID seraqlu sena u nofs mill-isbaħ żmien imma ggradwa xorta. It-toga ma qagħditlux wisq, u m’għandux ritratti jitbissem biha. Dakinhar xtaq jingħalaq fi ktieb fil-librerija għall-kwiet.
Irrealizza li l-industrija finanzjarja mhix daqstant għalih meta beda jinvolvi ruħu sew fis-settur volontarju, l-aktar billi jgħallem il-Malti lill-immigranti. L-ewwel xogħol pubblikat tiegħu kien traduzzjoni tal-memoir Sharon and My Mother-In-Law ta’ Suad Amiry. Wara ħareġ ġabra ta’ novelli taħt l-isem Mhux Nies. Iż-żewġ xogħlijiet ntgħażlu mal-aħħar erbgħa għall-Premju Nazzjonali tal-Ktieb. Dan l-aħħar reġa’ ttraduċa xogħol ieħor ta’ Amiry, Damasku Tiegħi.