Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1192401
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 15 DECEMBER 2019 5 THIS WEEK BOOKS insulation and provincialism of my homeland. While I have lived in Can- ada for 42 years now, in three differ- ent provinces (Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Ontario), I have also had the op- portunity to travel widely, especially in the U.S., Middle East, and Europe. Also, my visits to Malta as well as the length of my durations there have in- creased. Overall, I feel better when I am travelling. I am also lucky that when in Toron- to I have the benefit of the Maltese community or what is left of it, as the community is slowly diminishing. There are friends and members of the community who follow my writ- ing and give me feedback once a book is published. This is always encourag- ing. However, since my literary writing is in Maltese (and this is a conscious political, and even ideological, deci- sion on my part), I am at a disadvan- tage to other Canadian authors who write exclusively in either English or French. The National Book Coun- cil of Malta has been supporting the translation of Maltese authors. I have benefited from this support, particu- larly with regard to Everyday En- counters: Short Stories translated by Irene Mangion. What do you make of the Maltese literary scene? What would you change about it? This is a difficult question. My re- ply is more subjective than any of the other replies. I will be honest and re- spectful. Before I left Malta in 1977 I was a member of all the literary groups in Malta including Moviment Qaw- mien Letterarju (I became a member at the age of 16 and I believe I was the youngest member then), Ghaqda Letterarja Maltija, Ghaqda tal-Malti Universita', and Ghaqda Kittieba Zghazagh. And during my term as secretary of the Ghaqda tal-Malti Universita' I represented the associa- tion on a newly established commit- tee that had representations from all associations, including L-Akkademja tal-Malti of which membership was then only restricted to established authors. From my active involvement with these associations, I learnt that the excessive and misconstrued per- ceptions of each group from other groups created a culture of 'us' and 'them', and a culture of elitism, the 'goody goodies' and the 'baddy bad- dies'. Today we have different literary groups. When in Malta I try to attend all of them as I believe they all have something positive to contribute. I also realize that the quality of the outputs from the authors associated with these groups is not monolithic: some writings are better than oth- ers. And this is normal. But what I find discouraging is that in many in- stances the negativity among these groups has created unnecessary com- petitions and ad hoc attacks, and hin- dered collaborative ventures between authors. It truly breaks my heart as I see history repeating itself. And as Lenin warned us (I think it was Lenin), history repeats itself, first as a tragedy, later as a farce. I hope we will not reach the level of a farce. Notwithstanding this first point, I truly believe that Maltese literature has overall grown both in quality and quantity. It surely is more diversi- fied. The establishment of regular open mics sessions and other liter- ary events open to the public, the development of the annual Malta Lit- erature Festival, as well as the devel- opment of the Malta National Book Council have helped immensely. Yet what is lacking is a proper and professional (non-cliquey) settings for authors of different literary views to come together to comment freely but respectfully on each other's work, as well as the publication of analytical and critical reviews of publications. It is a real pity as such sessions could help increase the quality of the pub- lications. In my view, some authors publish too hastily without receiving or accepting much feedback. I know there are publishers today that re- quest thorough revisions and offer professional assistance with feedback and copyediting. I have benefitted from such support. But other than that, it is all up to individual authors to seek feedback. And what happens is that authors of the same literary expectations tend to group with each other. And, in some sense, this is ac- ceptable as long as it does not create public exclusions and antagonisms. It would be meaningful and encour- aging if the current associations can come together to establish a com- mon, open and respectful yet critical forum. I want to thank several authors from whom I have received meaningful and critical feedback on my own work: Louis Briffa, Norbert Bugeja, Elena Cardona, Lou Drofenik, Leanne El- lul, Oliver Friggieri, Maria Grech Ga- nado, Immanuel Mifsud, Walid Nab- han, Terrence Portelli, Tarcisio Zarb and Murat Shubert. What's next for you? I am just about ready to complete my latest poetry collection. I am al- so working on a second novel, and a book of conversations with authors on diverse literary aspects. Then, a selection of some of my poetry will be appearing in Greek translation cour- tesy of Matina Tsimopoulou, entitled 'Loves of Yesterday'. L-Ittra ta' Osama is published by Horizons "Some Maltese authors publish too hastily without receiving or accepting much feedback" John P. Portelli