Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/863487
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 20 AUGUST 2017 This Week 33 WHAT'S ON Mediterranean Literature Festival and political activist Ma Thida, who will be interviewed by writ- er Clare Azzopardi. Her most recent book, the prison mem- oir Sanchaung, Insein, Harvard was published in English world- wide with the title, Prisoner of Conscience: My Steps through Insein in 2016 (Silkworm, Thai- land). This third and final evening also features the screening of "Off the Trail " (2015) by Jacob Cartwright and Nick Jordan, winner of the 2016 ZEBRA Prize for the Best Poetry Film, donat- ed by the Haus für Poesie. The film is based on the poem "End- less streams and mountains" by Gary Snyder and will be intro- duced by Noel Tanti. Live music will be provided by John Bartolo on drums and Jimmy Bartolo on guitar. Pre-Festival Events The writers will be in Malta throughout the week of the fes- tival to take part in the Malta LAF Literary Translation Work- shop led by Keith Borg and Na- dia Mifsud. They will be trans- lating each other's works, and reading some of these transla- tions during the festival. The pre-Festival events featur- ing the invited authors and festi- val organizers from the Literary Europe Live platform are being held on Sunday 20th August, Tuesday 22th, and Wednesday 23th, all starting at 8.00pm. There are also two events at Fort St Elmo that start at 7.00pm on Friday 25th and Saturday 26th. On Sunday 20th August, at 8.00pm at Blitz, 68 Triq Santa Luċija, Valletta, journalist Ra- mona Depares will moderate a roundtable discussion in Eng- lish about "High Literature / Pop Culture," with the participation of writers Immanuel Mifsud, Arvis Viguls and Asja Bakić. On Tuesday 22th August at 8.00pm, poet Antoine Cassar will be interviewing poets and performers Lilia Ben Romd- hane, Zoë Skoulding and Gjoko Zdraveski in English about "Po- etry as Public Space", at the Mal- ta School of Art, Casa Brunet, 106, Old Bakery Street, Valletta VLT 1458. Wednesday 23 August at 8.00pm, Inizjamed presents a special festival edition of its monthly multilingual Open Mic (Palk Ħieles) sessions coordi- nated by Jean Paul Borg, at Mao- ri Bar, Triq il-Lanċa, Valletta. Writers and singer-songwriters are welcome to present their work. On Friday 25 and Saturday 26, at 7.00pm at Fort St Elmo, before the start of the festival evenings, Inizjamed and LEuL present two special events. On Friday, two Portuguese publishing consult- ants from Booktailors, Luis Co- imbra and Paolo Ferreira, will give a presentation about pro- moting writers and works called "The Double Agent: Literature for Sale". On Saturday 26 at 7.00pm, again at Fort St Elmo, the Fes- tival is hosting a session called "Speed Dating: Face to face with Literatures in Europe", in which representatives from European literary organizations and in- stitutions have 5 minutes to share information about oppor- tunities in the field of literature and publishing with those who visit their stand. After the bell rings, the audience has to move to a different stand. The repre- sentatives from Literary Europe Live taking part in this ses- sion are Alexandra Büchler and Sian Williams from Literature Across Frontiers and Literary Europe Live; Mika Buljević from Kulturtreger|Booksa, Zagreb; Juta Pīrāga from the Interna- tional Writers and Translators House, Latvia; and Judit Böröcz from the Petöfi Literary Muse- um, Budapest. In the weeks leading up to the Festival, other literary events in- volving the invited Maltese writ- ers are being held, including an Open Mic session in Qala Gozo, in the San Vinċenz de Paul Resi- dence and in a summer school. The 2017 edition of the Malta Mediterranean Literature Fes- tival and the Malta LAF trans- lation workshop are being held in partnership with Arts Coun- cil Malta and Literature Across Frontiers, and with the support of Valletta 2018 Foundation, Heritage Malta, Għaqda tal- Malti – Università, the volun- teers of Tal-Kultura, and Studio Solipsis. The MMLF is the re- cipient of the EFFE, Europe for Festivals, Festivals for Europe label. The new Festival logo and oth- er promotional material were designed by artist Pierre Por- telli. More information is available on Facebook on pages of Iniz- jamed and the Malta Mediter- ranean Literature Festival 2017 and at inizjamedmalta.word- press.com Viguls Ma Thida Immanuel Mifsud Mark Camilleri Zoe Skoulding Gjoko Zdraveski