Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/697149
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 26 JUNE 2016 31 This Week Neither a revolutionary nor a beauty queen TEODOR RELJIC speaks to debut novelist Lara Calleja, who with Lucy Min? introduces us to a young Maltese 'everywoman' who despite her claims towards being unassuming and nondescript arrives on the scene with a searingly honest voice as she tells her – very Maltese and very relatable – coming-of-age story At arm's length "The book is quite personal, but I wouldn't say it's autobiographical. There are true experiences mixed with aspira- tions, random observations, personal outbursts or just wishful thinking. The book was like the recounting of a story over and over again – the more you recount a story, the more you make sense out of it, until finally you stop looking at it from a personal point of view and move on to see it objectively. When you finally make it to that stage, you can add up, amend and lend colour to that same story, boosting whatever it is that you want to say." Intimate Malta "There are two generic factors about Malta which I find worth mentioning in light of the book. First, Malta is a hot, overpopulated Mediterranean country which makes it difficult to have a healthy dynamic of personal life and space. We are very aware that we are 'population polluted' – we are so close to each other that we can't help but notice what's going on with each of our – very much neighbour- ing – lives. This gives us an acute sense of self-consciousness, which makes us a bit of a paranoid civiliza- tion – justifiably so. Secondly, Malta's independence and public education is just shy of three quarters of a century old – so I believe we still do not have a solid self-esteem of our characteristic national identity. I believe that both points considerably affect how we ex- press ourselves in literature, the arts and the media in general. "Taking media as a case in point – particu- larly in the TV industry – drugs and obscene language are portrayed within typical spheres of 'bad company', self-destruction, 'low-life' people and all the clichés which still hang over such topics. Everyone knows though, that rec- reational drug use and both mild and harsh obscene language are a common practice within the members of the Maltese society. Although Lucy, my protagonist, takes a com- bative stance to these aspects of Maltese life, as an author I did feel a considerable amount of hesitation when it came to tackling such subjects as clearly and honestly as I could. "Having said all this, I be- lieve many themes are being explored in current Maltese literature – the circle is getting wider year by year. And we're becom- ing more confident about expressing what we want to express in its deepest form, without feeling like we have to make compromises." Wrestling with a debut "Writing my first book wasn't a walk in the park. I mean, it was frustrating and at times I just wanted to throw my laptop down my three-storey flat: I was so eager for the book to be published that I dreaded the editing process (I am a very "right now" person). And this consisted in deleting and re-writing scenes, creating com- pletely new characters, merging chapters with others, or just dis- carding a whole chapter altogeth- er. But I learnt so much through this process. With constant self- criticism and a will to find mean- ing in whatever I was writing about, the book finally came to be. "Also it's impossible not to credit Clare Azzopardi – who serves as the editor of Lucy Min? She never touched the text, but with questions like: "What are you saying here, what do you mean by this phrase?", she helped me get a clearer idea to where the book was heading to. Winging it "There was never a pre-planned story line [for Lucy Min?]. I am not sure I am able to do that – maybe I can discover that at a later stage. But there were some themes at its heart which I believe do come across throughout the book, like the love of travelling, the "oh-no!" sex topic, and the challenging of whatever values the general socie- ty expects from its female citizens. I mean, as the book says, Lucy is nothing special. Sometimes she's a crazy mess. But even though she is neither a revolutionary Che Guevara nor a beauty queen with perfect hairstyles, she looks like a relatable girl, who makes you laugh or cry for no special reason – if nothing else, for her blunt honesty and her obstinacy to do it her own way." Malta's literary scene "I think it has drastically improved these last years, especially with stronghold organisa- tions such as Ghaqda tal-Malti and Inizjamed who have done so much to boost the local lit- erature scene, with both talent and style. Also, Malta Public Libraries and Kunsill tal-Ktieb are assembling much more funding for litera- ture events and incentives and this is definitely bearing its fruits. "On the other hand, I still believe that the lo- cal literary scene has to open its doors wider and find ways to stimulate the general public to relate with the literary world further. But, as per my petty observations, it looks like we're getting there thanks to a very dedicated and capable effort." The future "Maybe theatre. Maybe short-film. It looks as though Lucy Min? may have opened up some small doors for me. We'll see if they will lead somewhere. In the meantime, I'm scrib- bling down some other paragraphs as well, which I hope might amount to a who-knows- what-about novel." Lucy Min? is published by Merlin Publishers end? We will only know this on the day, together with our audi- ences, as our lawyers and star- witnesses unfold the drama. Not only are we broad across genres, but also across styles. We merge Stravinsky's iconic Rite of Spring with Big Band sounds, contemporary chamber music with tap-dancing, medi- tative strings in the cathedral with sculpture. We are nodding at Shakespeare's 400th in Ham- let, but also in orchestral works across the ages, culminating in a concert with the Malta Philhar- monic Orchestra with Tchai- kovsky's lush sounds, Prokofiev's powerful Montagues and Capu- lets in his poignant Romeo and Juliet, and Bernstein's modern take with his Symphonic Dances from West Side Story. Our calls across the different art forms have helped us engage even more closely with the pub- lic. Our "cross-pollination" of the arts and providing the space for people to work together is creat- ing an identity. Our truly eclectic festival is painting a wonderful canvas, allowing us to reach dif- ferent audiences with different interests. Our moving Maltese theatre-in-a-bus across differ- ent towns and villages will take theatre to the people. We have created ensembles, we are work- ing with Maltese poets, artists composers. We are commission- ing new work. We are creating a community. The Malta Arts Festival will be taking place across various venues in Valletta from July 8 to 18. For more information and a full programme, log on to http://maltaartsfestival.org/ people towards being unassuming and nondescript arrives on the scene with a searingly honest voice as she tells her – very Maltese and very relatable – coming-of-age story "The book is quite personal, but I wouldn't say it's autobiographical. There are true experiences mixed with aspira- tions, random observations, personal outbursts or just wishful thinking. The book was like the recounting of a story over and over again – the more you recount a story, the more you make sense out of it, until finally you stop looking at it from a personal point of view and move on to see it objectively. When you finally make it to that stage, you can add up, amend and lend colour to that same story, boosting whatever it is that you want "There are two generic factors about Malta which I find worth mentioning in light of the book. First, Malta is a hot, overpopulated Mediterranean country which makes it difficult to have a healthy dynamic of personal life and space. We are very aware that we are 'population polluted' – we are so close to each other that we can't help but notice what's going on with each of our – very much neighbour- ing – lives. This gives us an acute sense of self-consciousness, which makes us a bit of a paranoid civiliza- tion – justifiably so. Secondly, Malta's independence and public education is just shy of three quarters of a century old – so I believe we still do not have a solid self-esteem of our characteristic national identity. I believe that both points considerably affect how we ex- press ourselves in literature, the arts and the media in general. "Taking media as a case in point – particu- larly in the TV industry – drugs and obscene language are portrayed within typical spheres of 'bad company', self-destruction, 'low-life' people and all the clichés which still hang over such topics. Everyone knows though, that rec- reational drug use and both mild and harsh obscene language are a common practice "Having said all this, I be- lieve many themes are being explored in current Maltese literature – the circle is getting wider year by year. And we're becom- ing more confident about expressing what we want to express in its deepest form, without three-storey flat: I was so eager for the book to be published that I dreaded the editing process (I am a very "right now" person). And this consisted in deleting and re-writing scenes, creating com- pletely new characters, merging chapters with others, or just dis- carding a whole chapter altogeth- er. But I learnt so much through this process. With constant self- criticism and a will to find mean- ing in whatever I was writing about, the book finally came to be. "Also it's impossible not to credit Clare Azzopardi – who serves as the editor of Lucy Min? She never touched the text, but with questions like: "What are you saying here, what do you mean by this phrase?", she helped me get a clearer idea to where the book was heading to. Winging it "There was never a pre-planned story line [for Lucy Min?]. I am not sure I am able to do that – maybe I can discover that at a later stage. But there were some themes at its heart which I believe do come across throughout the book, like the love of travelling, the "oh-no!" sex topic, and the challenging of whatever values the general socie- ty expects from its female citizens. I mean, as the book says, Lucy is nothing special. Sometimes she's a crazy mess. But even though she is neither a revolutionary Che Guevara nor a beauty queen with perfect hairstyles, she looks like a relatable girl, who makes you laugh or cry for no special reason – if nothing else, for her blunt honesty and her obstinacy to do it her own way." Malta's literary scene "I think it has drastically improved these last years, especially with stronghold organisa- Lara Calleja signs copies of her debut novel, Lucy Min?, last January