KwartaKtieb National Book Council Malta

Mark Vella reads from Ulied in-Nanna Venut fl-Amerka by Juann Mamo

Mark Vella reads an excerpt from Ulied in-Nanna Venut fl-Amerka by Juann Mamo, originally published in parts between 1930 and 1931, and republished by SKS.

Ulied in-Nanna Venut fl-Amerka is unanimously considered to be a cult novel. The book focuses on social and political life in early 20th-century Malta. In the author’s own words at the time, Ulied in-Nanna Venut fl-Amerka is meant to be a satirical, descriptive and semi-political novel ‘of our own times’. The book follows the many mishaps and tells the story of a group of Maltese emigrants in New York, with political overtones relating to the miserable state of backwardness the rulers of Malta had left their people in. The novel, compared to Cervantes’ Don Quixote, is comic as much as it is tragic, culminating in the tragic death of these migrants when back in Malta.

About the author

Juann Mamo, better known as the idiosyncratic author of Ulied in-Nanna Venut fl-Amerka, is probably one of the few Maltese writers who has continuously fascinated generations of readers. He was born in 1886, and spent time in jail from 1906 to 1912. Out of prison, he published his first writing in ‘Il-Bandiera Maltija’. He emigrated to Egypt from 1914 to 1921, where he communicated with Manwel Dimech, his intellectual leader. In 1941 he was found dead in Wied Babu, limits of Żurrieq, after suffering from rib fractures for reasons still unknown. He’s the author of Ulied in-Nanna Venut fl-Amerka (1930-31), Ġabra ta’ Sigrieti (1934) and Obstetricia Illustrata - Tagħrif fuq it-Twelid bil-Qabla u t-Tabib (1939), and the collection of short stories Ġrajja Maltija – Ġabra ta' Novelli (Klabb Kotba Maltin, 2010).

About the reader

Mark Vella edited Ġrajja Maltija (Klabb Kotba Maltin 2010), the hitherto unpublished short stories by Juann Mamo.

If you liked Ulied in-Nanna Venut fl-Amerka, check out the following by Juann Mamo:

Ġrajja Maltija – Ġabra ta' Novelli (Klabb Kotba Maltin)

Buy Ulied in-Nanna Venut fl-Amerka here.

This episode is sponsored by the National Book Council.

Sab Mulligan reads from Having Said Goodnight by Pierre J. Mejlak.

Sab Mulligan reads ‘I went to see her’ from the short story collection Having Said Goodnight (Merlin Publishers, 2015) by Pierre J. Mejlak, and translated by Antoine Cassar.

In this captivating collection of stories, people are often at a crossroads, moving from one point in their existence to another, trying to understand a life they have lived but perhaps never fully comprehended; in ‘I went to see her’ a son sets off on a journey to meet his dying father’s former lover. ‘I went to see her’ was first published in Maltese as ‘Mort naraha, pa’ in the European Union Prize for Literature-winning Dak li l-lejl iħallik tgħid (Merlin Publishers, 2011).

The author

Pierre J. Mejlak (b. 1982) is a novelist and short-story writer from Gozo. He has written books for children, a novel and two collections of short stories, winning him the European Union Prize for Literature, five Malta National Book awards and the Sea of Words European Short Story Award. His short stories have been translated into more than seven languages and have been anthologised by various international publishers.

About the reader

Sab Mulligan is dedicated to empowering children to dream big. She is the author of We're the New Superheroes (Faraxa Publishing, 2019), a book showing children that just like their favourite superheroes they too are brave and bold.

If you liked the story, you may want to check out the following by Pierre J. Mejlak:

Qed Nistennik Nieżla max-Xita (Merlin Publishers, 2009)

Dak li l-lejl Iħallik Tgħid (Merlin Publishers, 2015)

Buy Having Said Goodnight here.

This episode is sponsored by the National Book Council.

Nadia Mifsud Mutschler reads from De Profundis by Doreen Micallef.

Poet Nadia Mifsud Mutschler reads two poems from Doreen Micallef’s collection De Profundis published in 1979 by Klabb Kotba Maltin.

The first short poem ‘Meditazzjoni’ opens the collection, while ‘De Profundis’, after which the book is named, is one of the major works of Doreen Micallef. Her poems originate from a complex personality that carries an excruciating pain, mostly due to the fact that she was born with a physical impairment that conditioned her life significantly. Her body is, more often than not, felt to be a recipient of pain. A pain that she aestheticises in her poems, as she records her own metaphorical inner journey through Limbo, Hell, Purgatory and Heaven, and the hope of a rebirth. Nourished by her deep solitude, her poems continually reflect a yearning for dialogue. Paradoxically, however, while Micallef is driven by a strong need to communicate, her message is seemingly inexpressible; she suffers and writes, writes and suffers.

About the author

Doreen Micallef stands out as one of few female writers associated with the Moviment Qawmien Letterarju and, more importantly, as a pioneer of the feminist thought in Maltese literature. She published three collections of poems: Fit-Triq tal-Empirew (1975), De Profundis (1979) and Kyrie (1980).

About the reader

Poet Nadia Mifsud Mutschler is a lover of the smell of sea, the streets of the Three Cities, the sound of the violoncello at night, the chirping of the birds at dawn, and when words escape her she turns to fabrics.

If you liked De Profundis, check out the following by Doreen Micallef:

Poetry

Fit-Triq tal-Empirew

Kyrie

Plays

Wiċċ imb Wiċċ u drammi oħra

This episode is sponsored by the National Book Council.

Kenneth Scicluna reads from the twenty-ninth day and thirtieth night from Antoine Cassar’s Erbgħin Jum, a book-length poem.

The book moves through forty days and forty nights narrating long walks, real or metaphorical, inducing reflections on childhood trauma, depression and walking as self-therapy. It was awarded with the Malta National Book Prize for Poetry in 2018 and has been shortlisted for the 2020 Gdansk European Poet of Freedom Award.

The author

Antoine Cassar is a Maltese poet and translator. Besides Erbgħin Jum, he is the author of Passaport, a long poem printed in the form of an anti-passport for all peoples and all landscapes, has been published in eleven languages, and adapted for the theatre in Malta, France and Belgium. As a translator, Cassar has rendered the work of fellow Maltese authors into English (notably the short stories of Pierre J. Mejlak, 2014 EU Prize for Literature) and Spanish (Alex Vella Gera’s novel Troyano, published in May 2019 by Librosdementira).

About the reader

Kenneth Scicluna lectures at MCAST and at the University of Malta, makes films, and is a member of the European Film Academy.

If you liked Erbgħin Jum, you may want to check out Antoine Cassar’s:

Passaport: edizzjoni aġġornata (EDE Books, 2020)

Buy Erbgħin Jum here.

This episode is sponsored by the National Book Council.

Antonella Axisa and Mikhail Basmadjian read from Fil-Parlament Ma Jikbrux Fjuri by Oliver Friggieri.

Actors Antonella Axisa and Mikhail Basmadjian read an excerpt from Oliver Friggieri’s Fil-Parlament Ma Jikbrux Fjuri, where an important dialogue about politics, philosophy and class struggle takes place between two politically estranged individuals.

When the novel was published in 1986, it stirred political controversy: half of Malta ended up buying the book, while the other half shunned it. Friggieri presents to the reader the complex roots of conflict between the two political parties in the country. From this continuous struggle emerges Karlu Manju, who represents the individual who’s free from the psychological grab of the political class on the people. Fil-Parlament Ma Jikbrux Fjuri is a political novel, but it is also religious, and it tells the story of the power held by the common man.

About the author

Oliver Friggieri is Professor of Maltese Literature at the University of Malta. He is the foremost Maltese literary critic and a national author. He has published extensively and in his creative writing he attempts to interpret the sentiments and attitudes of a people living in the Central Mediterranean.He’s a poet, novelist and philosopher.

About the readers

Antonella Axisa is an actress and presenter with a love for languages and accents. Mikhail Basmadjian is an actor and graphic designer. He’s also a diver and a lover of cats.

If you liked Fil-Parlament Ma Jikbrux Fjuri, check out the following by Oliver Friggieri:

Novels

Il-Gidba (Klabb Kotba Maltin)

L-Istramb (Merlin Publishers)

Ġiżimin Li Qatt Ma Jiftaħ (Mireva Publications)

It-Tfal Jiġu bil-Vapuri (Mireva Publications)

Short-stories

Stejjer Għal Qabel Jidlam (Klabb Kotba Maltin)

Fil-Gżira Taparsi Jikbru l-Fjuri (Grima Printing and Publishing Industries)

Poetry

Il-Kliem li Tgħidlek Qalbek (Mireva Pubications)

Mal-Fanal Hemm Ħarstek Tixgħel (Merlin Publishers)

Literary Criticism

L-Istudji Kritiċi Miġbura (University of Malta)

Buy Fil-Parlament Ma Jikbrux Fjuri here.

This episode is sponsored by the National Book Council.

Rachelle Deguara reads from Amina by Antoinette Borg

Caption:

Rachelle Deguara reads chapter 29 from Amina by Antoinette Borg.

Amina is a 12-year-old girl who is a Maths prodigy. She lives on patterns, rules, diagrams. She sees life in figures. If you’re standing next to her, her mind is calculating how far away you are in meters and centimetres. She wins a prestigious place in a national six-week Maths-camp. However, it turns out that she has a bigger mystery than a Maths problem to solve – and she must set off on an adventure which will take her all the way to it-Torri l-Aħmar in Mellieħa. Amina is Merlin Publishers’ first novel featuring a black Maltese protagonist.

About the author

Antoinette Borg (b. 1973) left her twenty-year business advisory career to pursue her passion for writing. In 2016 she published her first novel, Fittixni, which went on to win the Terramaxka National Book Prize in the 13-16 years category. Her second YA novel (Ri)ġenerazzjoni won the Literary Contest of Novels for Youth and was published in 2018. Antoinette received the National Book Council’s Best Emerging Author award for 2018, and her third novel for youths, Amina, won her the 2019 National Book Prize for adolescents. She has just co-authored her latest work Innuendo (Merlin Publishers, 2019), consisting of 12 short-stories for adults.

About the reader

Rachelle Deguara is a singer known by her stage name REA. She likes to learn about anything, is involved in political activism and runs her own small enterprise. She currently conducts a radio programme on Maltese Literature.

If you liked Amina check out the following by Antoinette Borg:

Novels

Fittixni (Merlin Publishers)

(Ri)Ġenerazzjoni (Merlin Publishers)

Short-stories

Innuendo (Merlin Publishers)

Children’s literature

Il-Lukanda ta’ Martina (Merlin Publishers)

Buy Amina from here.

This episode is sponsored by the National Book Council.