Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1465732
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 24 APRIL 2022 4 BOOKS Loranne Vella's latest novel 'Marta Marta' is a polyphonic novel, addressing key themes and preoccupations of current Maltese life. The book launch will take place over three evenings, from 29th April till 1st May 2022 at Rosa Kwir Gallery 38, Main Street, Balzan, BZN 1259. The launch is a collaboration between the author, Kixott, Ede Books, and Rosa Kwir founders Romeo Rox- man Gatt and Charlie Cauchi. The author asked 7 readers who specialise in such spheres as theatre, women's medical health and gynaecology, LGB- TIQ+ issues, gender archaelogy and feminist literature - Marco Galea, Noah Fabri, Romeo Rox- man Gatt, Omar N'Shea, Chiara Frendo Balzan, Kat Storace and Rachel Baldacchino - to read the final draft of the manuscript and give their feedback. Each evening, several of these readers will tackle a specific topic, as fol- lows: Friday 29th April – "Feminist Literature in Maltese and in translation." Kat Storace from Praspar Press, London and Noah Fabri will discuss Marta Marta as a feminist novel and the chal- lenges it would offer in English translation; this will be followed by Rachel Baldacchino who will hold a Q&A with the author about Marta Marta as the first openly feminist novel in Maltese Saturday 30th April – "Gen- der and toxic masculinity." The second evening will be a conver- sation between Romeo Roxman Gatt and Omar N'Shea about toxic masculinity and other gen- der issues dealt with in the novel Sunday 1st May – "Women's medical health, contraception, abortion and reproductive rights in Malta." The last evening will be a con- versation between Chiara Fren- do Balzan (gynaecologist and women's health doctor) and Dé- sirée Attard (equality and human rights lawyer and activist whose research focuses on Abortion in Malta: the legal stance from a pro-choice perspective), with Marta Marta as their point of de- parture. About Marta Marta Marta Marta is a polyphonic novel in Maltese which symbol- ically addresses key themes and preoccupations of current Mal- tese life, while being written in a mode that exists outside the pre- dominantly social-realist genre of writing that currently prevails in mainstream Maltese liter- ary fiction for adults. As such, it provides the groundwork for political and cultural discussion that enriches the discourse in Malta on topics such as sexual- ity, abortion, feminism, gender identity and the prevalence of the Catholic and patriarchal he- gemony. The intention is also to ask such questions and explore the various answers from a local angle and through the Maltese language itself. While being of a narratively ex- perimental nature, Marta Marta employs archetypes and com- mon Maltese cultural touch- stones - such as religious iconog- raphy - to position its characters and their trajectory. In this way, the novel threads the line be- tween the disorienting and the familiar, en- suring uniqueness and surprise while never devolving into obscu- rity. What Vella pro- poses is a mythologi- cal space, dominated by the theatrical, the decadent and the inverted, in which con- temporary Maltese mores are allowed to take root and submit themselves for dissection, explo- ration and transformation. "Marta Marta" is a quote from the story of Martha and Mary ac- cording to St. Luke (Luke 10.38). As Martha and Mary prepare for the arrival of Jesus in the bibli- cal story, Dolores and Concetta open their house, referred to by everyone as House of Pleasure, to their guests. The definition of the name Marta is "mistress of the house" which is why this name, in the novel, is significant on more than one level. The publication of Marta Mar- ta is aided by the Book Fund of the National Book Council. About the author Loranne Vella is a Maltese nov- elist and short story writer. She translates plays and children's books from French, German and Spanish into Maltese, and directs the performance collective Ba- rumbara Collective in Belgium. Her most recent publication was the collection of short stories mill-bieb 'il ġewwa (Ede Books, 2019), translated into English by Kat Storace as what will it take for me to leave (Praspar Press, 2021). In 2018 Vella won the Na- tional Book Prize with her novel Rokit (Merlin Publishers, 2017). Book launch – Loranne Vella's latest work 'Marta Marta' is a 'polyphonic novel' Loranne Vella