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maltatoday | SUNDAY • 9 AUGUST 2020 5 THIS WEEK BOOKS stomach we are. The event, which was the most ambi- tious performance project I ever pro- duced, was a success and now more than ever I felt it was necessary to pub- lish the short story collection on which it was based. The publication became an unexpected follow-up project from the performance event because it took the shape of a literary-photographic collaboration with photographer and publisher Zvezdan Reljic/Ede Books. Zvezdan, as photographer, was one of the eight artists involved in 'Verbi'. For the publication, he worked on a new set of photographs, different from the ones used in the performance. As one would expect, the performance left its mark on the stories, and as I revisited them to prepare them for publication, I rewrote some parts, developed others, and re- moved two stories completely. The poem Il-verbi ta' kuljum, which now heads the collection, was specif- ically written for the performance but as it became emblematic of the under- lying theme, I decided to include it in the collection as well. mill-bieb 'il ġew- wa came out in November 2019. Once again, the book launch, like almost all of my book launches, took the form of a performance/photographic exhibition. What do you make of the local literary scene? What would you change about it? Since I live abroad, I'm not sure I can answer this question properly. I write in Maltese, for a Maltese audience, and I am involved in several local literary events such as the annual Book Festival organised by the National Book Council in November, the annual Mediterrane- an Literature Festival in August or some of the monthly Open Mic sessions, or- ganised by Inizjamed. I am also aware of the relevant work by groups like HELA, the Hub for Excellence in the Literary Arts, and am in contact with many oth- er Maltese authors, poets and transla- tors who contribute immensely to the literary scene in Malta. It makes me very happy to see col- laborations between different writers, such as writers translating each other, or editing each other's work, which was the case with mill-bieb 'il ġewwa, edit- ed by Antoine Cassar. Also, this year, L-Akkademja tal-Malti is celebrating one hundred years since the founding of L-Għaqda tal-Kittieba Maltin, by preparing a special edition of its journal Il-Malti. For such a small island I feel that a great deal is going on. I am always im- pressed by the sheer amount of new publications every year. I am also aware of the incentives that are now in place targeting authors and publishers when it comes to publishing works whose selling point is literary rather than commercial; subsidiary funds which target the film industry to promote the rendition of literary works into film; translation funds that promote Maltese literature overseas, and so on. The abo- lition of censorship just a few years ago obviously also plays a huge role in the freedom which Maltese authors now exercise in their creative work. I know all this but I know it from a certain dis- tance. There is definitely much more going on in the day-to-day business of the Maltese literary scene, but this is what I see from where I am. If I could change anything, I would like to hear readers say they enjoy reading in Maltese as much as they would in any other lan- guage. What's next for you? Since October, I've been busy working on a new novel which is very different from anything I've written so far. I won't mention the title yet because it has al- ready changed four times, so by the time it's ready for publication it might change another four times or more. If Rokit is mostly about men (Petrel, Ben- jamin, Albert, Sacco), this one is entire- ly (so far) about women. It is not just about female characters but also about what it is to be a woman from the point of view of four very different characters, one of whom is a radical feminist. But characterisation is not the only big difference. I am writing in a way in which I've never written before. The focus is not on plot or character devel- opment, as was usually the case in my previous longer works, but on language itself. I am experimenting in how to write about certain things in Maltese which are, most of the time, expressed not in our mother tongue, but in Eng- lish. I have no idea how long it will take me to finish this work. I'm hoping this time it will be less than five years. Mill-bieb 'il ġewwa is published by Ede Books November 2019 PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOE GATT