Inizjamed has published four books directly related to the Malta Mediterranean Literature Festival, xtaqt li kont merkurju (ed. Kit Azzopardi, Claudia Gauci, Justine Somerville), Overthrow the System (ed. Adrian Grima), Għaraq Xort’Oħra and Klijenti Antipatiċi u Kapuċċini Kesħin (both ed. by Clare Azzopardi and Albert Gatt).
For those of us who can’t say August without saying Festival, for those of us who can’t get enough of the Festival once it starts, every edition is, in its own way, a memorable one. Perhaps it’s still a little early, but we’re anticipating that this edition will be one for the books, for various reasons. Chief among them is our new publication xtaqt li kont merkurju, an anthology celebrating poetry and translation, both of which become our languages during the Festival.
This book comprises 122 poems which were translated into the Maltese during the translation workshops of the Festival’s first sixteen editions. It holds the work of 60 authors and 25 translators. Its title, xtaqt li kont merkurju, is the first line of one of the poems featured in the anthology, and we chose it because mercury’s flexible and transformative nature as a metal liquid represents the flexibility needed in the literary translation process and its transformative potential. As Adrian Grima writes in the anthology’s introduction, it is not only the original text which is “created anew, but also the language it is translated into”.
This is the result of a journey which started several years ago, and the end product reflects the hard work of the many individuals involved along the way. For this reason we are very excited to be sharing this publication with you, in hopes that the poems refashioned by translation are given new life by the readers
The 2013 edition of festival also saw the launch of a new book in Maltese published by Inizjamed and edited by Clare Azzopardi and Albert Gatt, Klijenti Antipatiċi u Kapuċċini Kesħin. This is a collection of short stories by international writers who have taken part in the festival over the years.
The works are by Ghazi Gheblawi (trans. Walid Nabhan and Clare Azzopardi), Polona Glavan (Karl Schembri), Kallia Papadaki (Clare Azzopardi), Valerio Cruciani (Clare Azzopardi), Valda Berzina Melgalve (Maria Grech Ganado), Mona El Shemy (Clare Azzopardi), Roman Simić (Immanuel Mifsud and Clare Azzopardi), Youssef Rakha (Nadia Mifsud and Pierre J. Mejlak), Tarek Eltayeb (Clare Azzopardi), and Jordi Puntí (Immanuel Mifsud). This book has been designed by artist Pierre Portelli.
Kien hemm biss klijenti antipatiċi u kapuċċini kesħin. Klijenti antipatiċi u kapuċċini kesħin. Kien filgħodu kmieni.
Is-sebgħa u nofs ta’ filgħodu. It-tren kien għadu kif telaq. X’ngħas kien hemm fuq dak it-tren. Vagun mimli. Ħaddiema, irġiel, nisa, familji. Fl-arja riħa ta’ sigaretti moqlija. Gazzetti miftuħa. Għajnejn magħluqa. Roti tal-bagalji. M’hemmx post biżżejjed fil-kompartamenti ta’ fuq. M’hemmx spazju biżżejjed fuq is-seats. Kulħadd imrekken.
Kien hemm mara bix-xaħam ifur minn ġos-seat dejjaq u kellha wiċċha aħmar u bil-mustaċċi, xagħarha iswed u żejtni u għajnejha żgħar. Ħdejha soru anzjana. Ċkejkna, ma fiha xejn. Magħfusa mal-ħġieġa kienet qed tħares lejn l-istazzjon dejjem jitbiegħed. Jien ukoll tbegħidt mal-istazzjon u mbennen mit-tren, marret għajni biha.
From “Klijenti Antipatiċi u Kapuċċini Kesħin” by Valerio Cruciani, translated by Clare Azzopardi.
For the 2011 edition of the Festival dedicated to The Arab Spring of Freedom and Dignity, Inizjamed published Overthow the System, a small collection of non-fiction writing and interviews about the Arab revolutions, edited by Adrian Grima.
The contributors are Yasser Abdel-Latif, Omayma Abdel-Shafy, Awlad Ahmad, Albert Gatt, Adrian Grima, Walid Nabhan, Mohamed-Salah Omri, Robin Yassin-Kassab, and Abdelrehim Youssef.
“I ask Abdelrehim Youssef and his wife Omayma Abdel-Shafy, an Alexandrian short story writer, who were both actively involved in the revolution in Alexandria, whether they agree with Roy’s assessment of the secular nature of the revolutions. Omayma Abdel-Shafy is categoric: ‘These were not Islamic Revolutions. People were moved by social, economic and human motivations. So, despite the attempts of the Islamic powers to seize political authority in the aftermath of the revolutions, the people will always look for those who can fulfill their ambitions.’
Abdelrehim Youssef agrees with Olivier Roy’s assessment too and he applies it both to the popular movements in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya that have led to the overthrow of the three presidents, and also to the Syrian and Yemeni popular revolutions that are taking place now. ‘It was after the dismissal of Zein Al-‘abdin and Mubarak that the Islamic powers began maneuvering to occupy the scene and get into conflicts with the other parts, whether liberal or socialist, with the aim of building Islamic countries, as they say.’”
In 2012, Inizjamed published Għaraq Xort’Oħra, a collection of gay and lesbian poems and short stories by Slovenian writers Brane Mozetič and Suzana Tratnik.
These works were translated into Maltese during the workshops of the 2012 edition of the Festival by Clare Azzopardi, Keith Borg, Norbert Bugeja, Priscilla Cassar, Claudia Gauci, Adrian Grima, Simone Inguanez. Caldon Mercieca, Immanuel Mifsud, Nadia Mifsud and Walid Nabhan. The book was edited by Clare Azzopardi and Albert Gatt.
Brane Mozetič is a poet, novelist, translator and editor Brane Mozetič, who was awarded the City of Ljubljana Poetry Prize and the European Poetry Prize-Falgwe. He has published thirteen poetry collections, two novels and a short stories collection. Twenty eight of his books have been published in translation abroad, most of them in Italian, English and German.
Suzana Tratnik is an award-winning prose writer and translator who has published five short stories collections, two novels, a play and two non-fiction books about lesbian movement and lesbian literature. Tratnik has translated several books of British and American fiction and non-fiction, including authors such as Judith Butler, Adrienne Rich and Michael Cunningham.
