Għat-tim tal-Festival ara isfel | How writers are invited: please read below
Samantha Barendson (France) | Roja Chamankar (Iran) | Joe P. Galea (Malta) | Rodolfo Häsler (Cuba/Spain) | Elias Khoury (Lebanon) | Ciwanmerd Kulek (Kurdistan/Turkey) | Daniel Massa (Malta) | Marc Nair (Singapore) | Abderrahim Sail (Morocco) | Rita Saliba (Malta) | Mark Vella (Malta) | Abigail Ardelle Zammit (Malta)
Thursday 25 | Friday 26 | Saturday 27 August 2016
Fort St Elmo, VALLETTA. 8.00pm
The XIth edition of the Malta Mediterranean Literature Festival organized by Inizjamed will be held on Thursday 25th, Friday 26th and Saturday 27th August, at Fort St Elmo, in Valletta, at 8.00pm. Twelve writers from eight countries are reading in the festival, which also features Maltese and foreign poetry films, two Maltese jazz bands, a book stall, a book binding stand, drinks and food by Ġugar. Entrance to all events is free.
The authors participating in this XIth edition are Samantha Barendson (France), Roja Chamankar (Iran), the Cuban-born Rodolfo Häsler who lives in Barcelona, Elias Khoury (Lebanon), Ciwanmerd Kulek (Kurdistan/Turkey), Marc Nair (Singapore), Abderrahim Sail (Morocco), and Joe P. Galea, Daniel Massa, Rita Saliba, Mark Vella, and Abigail Ardelle Zammit from Malta.
Readings will be mostly in Maltese and English, but some works will also be read in their original language
The Festival Programme
The writers reading on Thursday 25th August are the Maltese novelist Mark Vella, the writer from Kurdistan/Turkey Ciwanmerd Kulek, the Maltese poet Joe P. Galea, and the acclaimed Iranian poet Roja Chamankar who will also be interviewed on stage in English by Nadia Mifsud. The first night of the festival will feature the premiere of a short film by Martin Bonnici commissioned by Inizjamed and the Valletta 2018 Foundation inspired by a poem by Lillian Sciberras, “Meta tiġi MariRos”. Live jazz music will be provided by Effie Azzopardi (trumpet), Rafel Grima (drums), David Grech (guitar), and Samwel Grima (double bass).
On Friday 26th August, the writers invited to read are the English-language poet from Malta, Abigail Ardelle Zammit, whose second collection has recently been published in the UK; the acclaimed Cuban poet based in Barcelona, Rodolfo Häsler; the Moroccan poet Abderrahim Sail; and the established, bilingual Maltese poet Daniel Massa, who will read his poetry mostly in Maltese and will be interviewed in English by Kenneth Wain.
This second night features a special poetry and music performance by Marc Nair from Singapore and international poetry films from Highlight Arts and Oslo Internasjonale Poesifestival. These are “Pipene / The Pipes,” a Norwegian film by Kristian Pedersen of a poem by Øyvind Rimbereid that will be introduced on stage by Birgit Hatlehol of Oslo internasjonale poesifestival, and two films by Yasmin Fedda, introduced by Caldon Mercieca: “A Ghazal for the Tethered Goats“, a poem by Kei Miller, and “A Letter to My Mother in the Year 1980” a poem by Miriam al Attar (trans. Nia Davies).
The writers reading on Saturday 27th August are the Maltese novelist and short story writer Rita Saliba, French performance poet Samantha Barendson; and the world famous Lebanese novelist Elias Khoury who will also be interviewed in English by Norbert Bugeja.
This third and final night of the festival will feature the premiere of another short film commissioned by Inizjamed and the Valletta 2018 Foundation after a rigorous selection process, LOML by Gilbert Calleja u Matthew Attard. This short film is inspired by
Ray Mahoney’s poem “Tibqa’ Int”. All films will be introduced by Caldon Mercieca. Live jazz music on Saturday will be provided by Mużika: Francesca Galea (voice) and Kris Spiteri (piano).
Some of the literature read during the festival might require an adult audience.
Three pre-Festival events
As part of the run-up to the Festival, Inizjamed is presenting four special events. These events are free and everyone is welcome to attend.
The first two are being held in collaboration with Spazju Kreattiv, the creativity centre on Castille Place at the entrance to Valletta. On Sunday 21 August, at 8.00pm, Spazju Kreattiv is hosting “Rodolfo Häsler: Leaning against the Edge.” The Cuban writer will be interviewed in English by Jean Paul Borg.
On Tuesday 23rd August at 8.00pm, Spazju Kreattiv is hosting “Marc Nair: Busy Telling Stories”, who is being interviewed by sociologist Anna Zammit.
On Wednesday 24th August, Inizjamed presents another of its open mic poetry sessions, with the participation of festival organizers who are also writers and who will be in Malta for the Festival. One of these writers reading in this session is writer Jennifer Williams of the Scottish Poetry Library. This will be held at the Maori bar, Triq il-Lanċa, on the Valletta sea front.
On Friday 26th August at 7.00pm, before the start of the second night of the Festival at Fort St Elmo, Literature Across Frontiers will launch the Kurdish Literature Website, an event chaired by the director of LAF, Alexandra Büchler, in the Chapel of the Piazza d’Armi. The launch features the participation of the writer from Kurdistan/Turkey Cinwanmerd Kulek, Ezel Yilmaz (Diyarbakir Arts Centre), and Monique Agius.
Translating Each Other’s Work
The writers will be in Malta throughout the week of the festival to take part in the Malta LAF Literary Translation Workshop led by Keith Borg and Nadia Mifsud. They will be translating each other’s works, and reading some of these translations during the festival.
The festival and literary translation workshop are part of the Literary Europe Live platform co-funded by Creative Europe of the EU. This project is being coordinated by Literature Across Frontiers, which has played a crucial role in the setting up and development of this annual literary event. A number of festival organisers and partners with Inizjamed in Literary Europe Live are coming to Malta to attend this year’s edition of the Festival.
The 2016 edition of the Malta Mediterranean Literature Festival and the Malta LAF translation workshop are being held with the support of Arts Council Malta, Heritage Malta, Valletta 2018 Foundation, Għaqda tal-Malti – Università, the Fortress Builders – Fortifications Interpretation Centre, Spazju Kreattiv, the French region Rhône-Alpes, and Highlight Arts. The MMLF is the recipient of the EFFE Europe for Festivals, Festivals for Europe label.
The Festival is on Facebook and at inizjamedmalta.wordpress.com.
Il-Festival Mediterranju tal-Letteratura ta’ Malta 2016
Il-Ħamis 25 | Il-Ġimgħa 26 | Is-Sibt 27 ta’ Awwissu 2016, il-Forti Sant’Iermu, il-Belt Valletta, fit-8.00pm
Il-ħdax-il edizzjoni tal-Festival Mediterranju tal-Letteratura ta’ Malta organizzat minn Inizjamed se tittella’ l-Ħamis 25, il-Ġimgħa 26, u s-Sibt 27 ta’ Awwissu, fil-Forti Sant’Iermu, il-Belt Valletta, fit-8.00pm, bis-sehem ta’ awturi ewlenin minn tmien pajjiżi, fosthom ir-rumanzier magħruf Libaniż Elias Khoury, il-poetessa Iranjana Roja Chamankar, u l-poeta ewlieni Malti Daniel Massa.
Minbarra l-qari ta’ novelli u poeżiji minn 12-il awtur u awtriċi differenti minn tmien pajjiżi, se jkun hemm mużika, kotba għall-bejgħ, films tal-poeżija Maltin u barranin, illegar artiġjanali tal-kotba, xorb u ikel magħmul mill-ħanut Ġugar.
L-awturi kollha mistiedna għall-edizzjoni ta’ din is-sena tal-Festival huma Samantha Barendson (Franza), Roja Chamankar (l-Iran), Joe P. Galea (Malta), Rodolfo Hasler (Kuba/Spanja), Elias Khoury (il-Libanu), Ciwanmerd Kulek (il-Kurdistan/it-Turkija), Daniel Massa (Malta), Marc Nair (Singapore), Abderrahim Sail (il-Marokk), Rita Saliba (Malta), Mark Vella (Malta), u Abigail Ardelle Zammit (Malta).
Il-poeta ewlieni Victor Fenech jiddeskrivi dan il-festival internazzjonali bħala t-tlaqqigħa ta’ “vuċijiet” ta’ kittieba Maltin u barranin li “flimkien joħolqu bħal panorama ta’ temi u stili.”
Id-dħul huwa b’xejn u kulħadd jista’ jattendi. Xi kitbiet jistgħu jkunu maħsuba għal udjenza matura. Il-qari se jkun l-aktar bil-Malti u bl-Ingliż, imma jinqraw ukoll xi xogħlijiet bil-lingwa oriġinali
Laqgħat mill-qrib mal-awturi
Din is-sena hemm ukoll erba’ avvenimenti pubbliċi speċjali li se jsiru qabel il-festival u li għalihom ukoll id-dħul huwa b’xejn u miftuħ għal kulħadd. Barra minn hekk, matul il-ġimgħa tal-festival, l-awturi mistiedna jieħdu sehem f’laboratorju tat-traduzzjoni mmexxi minn Keith Borg u Nadia Mifsud li fih jittraduċu x-xogħlijiet ta’ xulxin biex imbagħad jaqraw uħud minnhom waqt il-Festival.
L-ewwel avveniment pubbliku ta’ qabel il-Festival b’intervisti mal-awturi dwar temi kurrenti se jsir il-Ħadd, 21 ta’ Awwissu, fit-8,00pm fi Spazju Kreattiv, fi Pjazza Kastilja, il-Belt. F’din il-laqgħa mal-pubbliku, “Leaning against the Edge,” il-poeta Rodolfo Häsler minn Kuba li jgħix Barċellona se jitkellem ma’ Jean Paul Borg dwar art twelidu u l-bidliet li għaddejja minnu, u dwar Spanja u r-reġjun tal-Katalonja.
It-tieni avveniment pubbliku se jkun laqgħa mill-qrib mal-awtur eklettiku minn Singapore Marc Nair, “Busy Telling Stories”, it-Tlieta 23 ta’ Awwissu fi Spazju Kreattiv ukoll. L-awtur se jiġi intervistat mis-soċjologa Anna Zammit dwar l-isfidi li tgħix fi gżira bħal Singapore u l-mudell ta’ żvilupp li sikwit huwa assoċjat magħha.
Fl-24 ta’ Awwissu se tittella’ sessjoni ta’ qari miftuħ għal kulħadd fis-sensiela tal-palk ħieles li fih se jieħdu sehem ukoll xi organizzaturi tal-festivals li huma wkoll awturi stabbiliti u se jkunu Malta għall-Festival. Waħda minn dawk il-kittieba hija Jennifer Williams ta’ Scottish Poetry Library.
Ir-raba’ attività se tkun it-tnedija minn Literature Across Frontiers ta’ sit tal-letteratura Kurda li se ssir fil-kappella li hemm fil-Piazza d’Armi tal-Forti Sant’Iermu l-Ġimgħa 26 ta’ Awwissu fis-7.00pm, qabel ma tibda t-tieni lejla tal-Festival. Dan l-avveniment se jitmexxa minn Alexandra Büchler, direttriċi tal-LAF, u fiha se jieħdu sehem l-awtur Ciwanmerd Kulek (il-Kurdistan/it-Turkija), Ezel Yilmaz (mid-Diyarbakir Arts Centre), u Monique Agius.
It-Tlitt Ijiem tal-Festival
Il-Ħamis 25 ta’ Awwissu se jaqraw ir-rumanziera Mark Vella u Ciwanmerd Kulek, u l-poeta Joe P. Galea, u warajhom, il-poetessa Iranjana Roja Chamankar se taqra x-xogħol tagħha u tiġi intervistata dwaru bl-Ingliż minn Nadia Mifsud. Il-mużika se tkun f’idejn Effie Azzopardi (trumbetta), Rafel Grima (drums), David Grech (kitarra), u Samwel Grima (kuntrabaxx). Il-Ħamis se jkun hemm ukoll il-preżentazzjoni tal-film ġdid “Meta tiġi MariRos” ta’ Martin Bonnici, imnebbaħ minn poeżija ta’ Lillian Sciberras, b’introduzzjoni ta’ Caldon Mercieca. Dan huwa proġett bi sħab bejn Inizjamed u l-Fondazzjoni Valletta 2018.
Il-Ġimgħa 26 ta’ Awwissu, se jieħdu sehem il-poeta u mużiċist Marc Nair, il-poetessa Maltija li tikteb bl-Ingliż Abigail Ardelle Zammit, u l-poeti Rodolfo Häsler u Abderrahim Sail (il-Marokk). Warajhom Daniel Massa se jaqra mix-xogħol tiegħu, l-aktar dak bil-Malti, u mbagħad wara jiġi intervistat bl-Ingliż minn Kenneth Wain.
Il-Ġimgħa se jintwerew tliet films qosra tal-poeżija bi sħab ma’ Highlight Arts u l-Oslo Internasjonale Poesifestival. Dawn huma “Pipene / The Pipes,” film Norveġiż ta’ Kristian Pedersen imsejjes fuq poeżija ta’ Øyvind Rimbereid li se jiġi ppreżentat fuq il-palk minn Birgit Hatlehol of Oslo internasjonale poesifestival, u żewġ films ta’ Yasmin Fedda, li se jippreżentahom Caldon Mercieca: “A Ghazal for the Tethered Goats“, poeżija ta’ Kei Miller, u “A Letter to My Mother in the Year 1980”, poeżija ta’ Miriam al Attar (trad. Nia Davies).
Is-Sibt 27 ta’ Awwissu se ssir il-preżentazzjoni tal-film ġdid i ta’ Gilbert Calleja u Matthew Attard imnebbaħ mill-poeżija “Tibqa’ Int” ta’ Ray Mahoney. Dan ukoll huwa frott tal-proġett bi sħab bejn Inizjamed u l-Fondazzjoni Valletta 2018. L-awturi li se jaqraw huma r-rumanziera Rita Saliba, il-poetessa Samantha Barendson, u r-rumanziera ta’ fama internazzjonali Elias Khoury, li se jiġi wkoll intervistat bl-Ingliż minn Norbert Bugeja. Il-mużika se tkun f’idejn Francesca Galea (vuċi) u Kris Spiteri (pjanu)
Minbarra xorb u ikel magħmul mill-ħanut Ġugar, matul il-Festival ikun hemm għall-bejgħ kotba magħmulin bl-idejn minn Glen Calleja, u kotba tal-awturi mistiedna għall-Festival.
Din il-11-il edizzjoni tal-Festival Mediterranju tal-Letteratura ta’ Malta, flimkien mal-laboratorju tat-traduzzjoni tal-Literature Across Frontiers, qed jittellgħu minn Inizjamed bħala parti mill-pjattaforma Literary Europe Live, ikkofinanzjat mill-programm Ewropa Kreattiva tal-UE, u kkordinat minn Literature Across Frontiers. Għadd ta’ organizzaturi ta’ festivals li bħal Inizjamed huma msieħba f’Literary Europe Live se jkunu Malta apposta biex jattendi l-edizzjoni ta’ din is-sena tal-Festival.
Il-Festival qed jittella’ bl-għajnuna tal-Kunsill Malti għall-Arti, il-Fondazzjoni Valletta 2018, Heritage Malta, l-Għaqda tal-Malti – Università, Spazju Kreattiv, ir-reġjun Franċiż Rhône-Alpes, u Highlight Arts. Dan il-Festival ingħata rikoxximent internazzjonali permezz tat-timbru tal-EFFE Europe for Festivals, Festivals for Europe.
Id-dħul għall-attivitajiet kollha huwa bla ħlas. Hemm aktar tagħrif dwar il-festival fuq il-paġna ta’ Inizjamed u l-attività “Malta Mediterranean Literature Festival 2016” fuq Facebook.
It-tim tal-Festival
It-tim li qed jorganizza l-edizzjoni tal-2015 tal-Festival Mediterranju tal-Letteratura ta’ Malta huwa magħmul minn Beverly Agius, Kit Azzopardi, Dorianne Bonello, Keith Borg, Jean Paul Borg, Norbert Bugeja, Elena Cardona, Antoine Cassar, Priscilla Cassar, Leanne Ellul, Claudia Gauci, Elizabeth Grech, Adrian Grima (koordinatur), Caldon Mercieca, John Paul Mifsud, Nadia Mifsud, Justine Somerville, u Gianluca Spiteri, bl-għajnuna ta’ Alexandra Büchler, Immanuel Mifsud, Walid Nabhan, Pierre Portelli u Victoria Pisani.
How writers are invited to the Malta Mediterranean Literature Festival
We’re often asked how we choose the writers we invite to read at our festival and writers or their agents often approach us to take part. Please bear in mind that it’s a small festival with a very particular format and build up. It’s not just a matter of climbing onto the stage to do your thing.
The crucial thing to keep in mind is that we do not solicit proposals from writers or their representatives to participate in the workshop and festival. We don’t mind being approached because that shows that writers are keen to get involved but we ask people to understand that it is the organizing team that approaches writers rather than the other way round. We’re very happy to meet and discuss the festival with those who attend even though they have not been invited to read themselves. The festival is the main thing we do at Inizjamed but we’re involved in other intiatives too and we’re happy to explore possible forms of collaboration with writers who approach us.
Please also keep in mind that we are (unpaid) volunteers and there is only so much we can do.
We look forward to meeting you at this year’s edition of the festival.
Adrian Grima (Inizjamed coordinator)
