Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1098850
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 31 MARCH 2019 5 THIS WEEK BOOKS or rather, to settle in the space between, since I do in fact come to Malta quite often. Although I did it out of choice, it was still quite a challenge as I was very young, Malta was not in the EU yet and I had to work to fund my studies. I had to grow up away from the comfort of my family and make friends with the feeling of longing, make peace with the love and hate relationship I had with Malta, and above all, accept "missing" my family and friends in Malta. At the same time, these painful experiences have helped me broaden my set of thoughts, become free, autonomous and independent. They changed my vision of the world. I cannot deny that I would not be the same person today if I had not left. I strive to express this complex set of emotions both with intensity and detachment (not indifference) as no matter how long it takes, I believe acceptance of feelings is far better than repression. What I al- ways try to avoid in my poems – and I hope I am succeeding – is to not fall into the trap of telling emotions with a voice colonised by pathos but rather, leaving a stream of hope. The family network, and family dynamics and memories, also form an integral part of the collection -- perhaps they are even its backbone. What did you wish to articulate or express about your family through the work? For me, the family is both the one in which I was born but also the changing one I have chosen to build through- out the years, which includes my clos- est friends. Apart from my family and friends, there are also persons I encoun- ter who have a significant impact on my life. Through my writings on expe- riences such as giving birth, becoming a mother, conversations with my two children, becoming and being a woman, the process of discovering who I am deep inside and accepting it, my love experiences and those of others, friend- ships, the loss of loved ones (especially my father), I share pictures of simple but intense moments that might sometimes seem common and make them sublime in their simplicity as they are what make us human… and we sometimes tend to forget it. Let's just say it is my way of contributing to some 'slowness' in this hectic life of ours. What do you make of the Maltese literary scene? What would you change about it? I am not a specialist in Maltese litera- ture but I do believe the Maltese literary scene has a lot of potential. It has been flourishing over the past decades. Dif- ferent styles and new voices are emerg- ing bringing another vision of the world. Authors have a new relationship with the language and its use, experimenting with new ways of writing and addressing new themes. Despite the fragile book sector and no matter how hard it is to be pub- lished, more people are writing, especial- ly young people. To keep this momentum and increase it, I encourage people to read more in Maltese… and publishers to follow the example of Merlin Publishers and take the risk to publish more poetry. Some would be quite surprised with how many interesting authors and poets we have. I would also encourage more women to write. Maltese literature lacks female voices. Being a literary translator myself, I cannot avoid mentioning the crucial importance of translation. Translation is the key to the internationalisation of our literary scene, making it accessible to other cultures, and so encouraging a wider exchange of literatures. Although many efforts have been made by insti- tutions, the book and the literary sector need to be increasingly supported to create an enabling environment for this development. Civil society organisations like HELA (Hub for Excellency in Liter- ary Arts) of which I am a member of the governing board contributing to the de- velopment of international relations are striving to help structure the literary and translation sector and become a hub of information. What's next for you? Many doors are opening… thanks to the Translation Fund of the Malta Arts Council, bejn bahar u bahar is being translated into Italian by Kevin Saliba and will be published in Italy by Capire Edizione by the end of this year. I have also translated it myself into French with the aim of having it published in France. Some poems will feature in the Antholo- gy of Young Maltese in Greek, published by Vaxikon Publishers in Athens with the support of the Malta National Book Council. I have continued writing and some new texts are being published here and there. A poem was recently published in Poetry at Bay (New York) and another one will soon feature in an anthology published by Active Muse, Pune (India). I was invited by the Embassy of Malta in Rome to participate in the Interna- tional Poetry Day celebrated by Eunic just this month, as well as to the celebra- tions of the Journée internationale de la francophonie organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which also took place in March. In June, I will participate in the Interna- tional Poetry Festival of Marrakech (Mo- rocco) and I am honoured to announce that I am one of the invited poets at the Malta Mediterranean Literature Festival this coming August. Bejn baħar u baħar is published by Merlin Publishers "Through my writings, I share pictures of simple but intense moments that might sometimes seem common and make them sublime in their simplicity, as they are what make us human"