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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 21 SEPTEMBER 2014 39 THIS WEEK New theatre scriptwriting course to open in October HORIZONS have just published Preżenza, a novel by Michael Cini which a ghost story full of mys- tery and surprises, which keeps the reader hanging on edge. The story reveals a particular ghost, which seeks to protect (iħares) only the people it chooses. It all begins when Timmy, a 12 year old boy, sets out to live with his grandmother, nanna Marija, in a large old house full of dark rooms and corridors, tight stair- ways, creaking furniture, wartime shelters and interconnected water wells. In no time, Timmy starts to experience a number of mysteri- ous episodes, and realises that they may have not been alone in that house. Although he becomes aware that all this was being done by the hand of some supernatural 'pres- ence', he also realises that whoever was haunting id-dar tan-nanna had no intention of hurting him. On the contrary, every episode re- veals that the ghost's sole intention was to protect him. Timmy finds it quite difficult to share these ex- periences, even with nanna Marija who loved him out of this world, since he aroused memories in her of someone whom she had lost so many years earlier. But one day, when he finds out that the ghost had saved him even from possible death, he decides to take a stand and talk to his grandmother. At this point things get quite com- plicated, because although nanna Marija knew all about the ghost's presence in her house, she was bound not to reveal this secret for any reason to anybody. However, from her reaction of panic and from the very few words which he manages to extract from her, Timmy con- cludes that his assumptions were all true. When Timmy grows up and is about to get mar- ried, he discovers that a great trag- edy had struck his family ancestors many years before. This had left hor- rible consequenc- es, most of all, through the spirit of a mother whose young child had mysteriously dis- appeared in that same house. She was still roaming the place over and over in vain, try- ing to find her long lost child so that maybe someday, her soul would be able to rest in peace forever. But what had actually happened? Preżenza is a haunting story with quite a few chills. However, it has also an oc- casional touch of humour, since it contains many different characters which could easily be found in our typical villages and in everyday life. It also includes a slight element of romance when Timmy falls in love with a hearing-impaired girl. This book is aimed to entertain readers of all ages, especially those who wish to read a novel which keeps them in suspense till the very last pages. Furthermore, it is important to note that besides the exciting story in itself, the author also had in mind to present to the reader a rich literary experience. As such, it is garnished with vari- ous expressions, idioms as well as proverbs which are commonly used in the Maltese language, for anyone who seeks to enjoy reading a good book in Maltese. ARTS Council Malta, the University of Malta and St James Cavalier Cen- tre of Creativity have joined forces to organise a new scriptwriting course for theatre. The course, which forms part of the restructured Premju Francis Ebejer, the national theatre script- writing award, will start this Octo- ber. It will be based on three work- shops in November, January and March. Lectures will be delivered by three award-winning theatre scriptwriters, Goran Stefanovski, Fraser Grace and Cathy Crabb, in collaboration with the School of Performing Arts at the University of Malta and St James Cavalier, Centre of Creativity. The course will help address the fact that, in the past few years, scripts submitted for the Premju Francis Ebejer often did not reach the required level. Last year, Arts Council Malta announced that it would be restructuring the Premju to contribute directly to the devel- opment of writers and their works. Premju Francis Ebejer is an incen- tive for writers to aim higher and work to renew Maltese theatre. The award for best plays is not merely financial but Arts Council Malta, which organises the Premju, also of- fers support for the winning scripts in all the categories to be produced and published. The calls for Premju Francis Ebejer will be out in 2015 and the prizes will be awarded later that year. Goran Stefanovski is Senior Lec- turer of scriptwriting in the Depart- ment of Media and Art at Christ Church University College, Canter- bury. He has won numerous awards including the Best Play Award for Bachannalia at the annual Macedo- nian National Drama Theatre Festi- val and the Vilenica Literary Prize, an award by an international jury to an author from Central Europe for outstanding achievement in the field of literary creativity and essay writ- ing. In 2005 he received the Golden Award for lifetime achievement in playwriting by the International Theatre Festival Sterijino Pozorje in Novi Sad, Serbia. Fraser Grace is a playwright and is currently Teaching Fellow at the Uni- versity of Birmingham and Conven- or, Masters Playwriting Studies. His play Breakfast with Mugabe won the Arts Council's John Whiting Award and the Silver Prize at the Sony Radio Academy Award while Perpetua won the Best New Play award at the Verity Bargate Awards. More recently, Life- savers was shortlisted for the Best New Play award at the 2009 Theatre Management Association Awards. Cathy Crabb was the winner of the Manchester Evening News Best Fringe Production Award with the play Moving Pictures - presented at 24:7 Theatre Festival. Since then she has been mentoring new writers. The course will be held at the University of Malta and at St James Cavalier. New and established scriptwriters are encouraged to ap- ply. Courses will be delivered in English but scripts will be produced in Maltese and in English. Deadline for applications is October 10. Price is €360. Application forms can be downloaded from: ht tp://www.um .edu .mt/_ _data/ assets/pdf_ f ile/0 0 08/222938/reg- scriptwriting.pdf. For more information contact course coordinator Prof Vicki Ann Cremona or visit www.um.edu.mt/ performingarts or www.maltacul- ture.com This Unit will also be considered as part of the Programme for the Lib- eral Arts and Sciences (PLAS) (www. um.edu.mt/clas) and the ECTS cred- its obtained for this Unit will be valid towards a PLAS award. Do you believe in ghosts?