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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 1 OCTOBER 2017 31 This Week reference point This year's edition of the Malta Book Festival will be taking place from November 8 to 12 at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, Valletta. For more information, log on to: http:// k t i e b . o r g . m t / ? e v e n t = m a l t a - book-festival-2017 The RIMA Digital Storytelling Workshop will be taking place at Spazju Kreattiv at St James Cavalier, Valletta on October 12 and 13 (17:00 – 19:00) and October 14 (14:00 – 17:00). Participation fee is at €15; free for students or the unemployed. To book, and for more information, log on to: http:// www.rimaproject.org/2/39/ Digital-Storytelling Flying off the wall for local publishers. This year's edition of the National Book Festival will feature an international focus on Truth and Fiction, as well as a workshop on literary journalism and reviewing. Why did you deem these subjects necessary to highlight this year, and what do you hope can emerge from these events? The conference, which is one of the main activities of the Festival, determines the theme of the whole Festival, which also informs the artwork for the particular edition. The theme of Truth in Fiction and Non- Fiction was motivated by its relevance to the current inter- national sociopolitical milieu, a relevance that holds on many levels. To give an example, local writer Walid Nabhan's L-Eżodu taċ-Ċikonji is a fictional account of an immigrant living in Malta, an account which nonetheless is infused with a sense of au- thenticity. The themes and the logic of the narrative speak of things that are real and of great relevance to the humanitar- ian crisis reported to us by the press: the plight of thousands of refugees escaping to Europe. In many senses, the book is telling us truths that we might not find in any of those press reports. Not only that, with the political scene so diametrically divided over the issue of immigration, can you really assume that press reports are neutral? The rel- evance of the theme is not lim- ited to this level but it serves as an example. Among the foreign guests who will take part in the conference this year, there is Ros Barber, the author of the Marlowe Papers – a novel in verse that explores the possibili- ty that William Shakespeare was in fact Christopher Marlowe – and the renowned French nov- elist Gilbert Sinoué, who mainly writes historical novels whose narrative straddles the line be- tween the received facts of his- tory and pure fiction. The workshop 'A Riveting Workshop', led by former BBC journalists Rose Goldsmith and Max Easterman, is meant to help local journalists refine their skills in the art of literary reviewing and the promotion of literature. Besides fitting in with our strategy of creating more platforms for the promotion of literature with the Maltese pub- lic – better and more frequent reviews of local publications will help boost the public's interest in the local scene, the workshop is linked thematically to the Festival in that it explores yet another channel of the traffic between fiction and non-fiction. The lifetime achievement award will be given to Mario Azzopardi this year. What are some of the main reasons that Azzopardi is deserving of this award, at this point in time? Mario Azzopardi has been awarded the prize both for his literary work and his work in promoting modern Maltese literature. As one of the found- ers of the Moviment Qawmien Letterarju, Azzopardi has been crucial in the evolution of mod- ern Maltese prose, poetry and drama. He was the editor of a large number of cultural review magazines and was active both on TV and radio. Azzopardi's greatest contribution was possi- bly that of urging Maltese writ- ers to abandon parochial themes and start addressing social and political issues. In particular, he sought to encourage them – even by example – to take aim at the sacred cows of Maltese soci- ety, something which has since become staple in modern Mal- tese literature especially with the advent of writers such as Guze Stagno, Immanuel Mifsud, Alex Vella Gera and Clare Azzo- pardi, to mention just a few. Azzopardi will be honoured with an event dedicated to his life and work on November 10. What are some of the ways that the National Book Festival will aim to evolve in the coming years? The Festival plays a key role in our strategy of promoting Mal- tese literature and encouraging reading habits among the Mal- tese. It is our main platform for reaching out to the public and enabling fruitful interaction be- tween authors, publishers and other stakeholders in the book industry. Over the next few years we intend to expand the possibilities of such encounters by encouraging more interna- tional participation and greater interaction. This will require more planning and more in- vestment but, crucially, it will require more international con- tacts, which we procure thanks to our participation in inter- national book fairs such as the London Book Fair. It is impor- tant that the Festival continues to grow year after year both in terms of visitor intensity and participation. "That the majority of the Maltese do not read is a fact, unfortunately" In your experience, what are the most important things to keep in mind when creating a mechanism for migrants to tell their stories, and how do you hope to apply it in this workshop? Dagmawi Yimer: First and foremost, the participants need to be made fully aware, and be conscious of, the importance of storytelling. They should ask themselves some fundamental questions at the beginning of the process. Why do we need these stories? To whom are we address- ing them, and where are we tell- ing them? And who owns these stories, in the end? It is generally important to keep in mind that, while migrants have various tools, formats and genres at their dis- posal to tell these stories – wheth- er it's true video, painting, writing or whatever – not everyone is equally gifted to narrate their sto- ries through the same means. However, I'm confident that those who sign up for the work- shop have already answered these questions for themselves in some capacity. People who want to par- ticipate will have made this desire known – through social media, primarily. It puts me to mind of something the acclaimed film director and documentarian Werner Herzog said when speaking about teach- ing documentary filmmaking. Emphasising that documentary is not mere reportage, he encour- ages his students to, "try not to be 'flies on the wall', but 'off the wall' instead". By this he means, don't conform to any current trends in filmmaking. And I think this is very relevant within the con- text of migration. Because stories about migrants tend to be about victimising the migrant, because everybody is concentrated the stories related only on the dra- matic endeavor of the migrant. What this does is suffocate indi- vidual stories with a looming, col- lective narrative of 'migration'. To combat that and create that cru- cial perspective shift, we should really involve migrants directly in the process of creation – remain- ing "off the wall" throughout. Francesca Vitalini: Commu- nication has basic rules, which remain valid in whatever context. These basic rules will be illustrat- ed during the course and we will build the storytelling process af- ter establishing them. Storytelling is an art and a tool for portraying real or fictional events through words, images, and sounds. It is an art that we will amplify us- ing social media. It is an effective communication that involves content, emotions, intentional- ity, and contexts. Participants will have the opportunity to experi- ence that the appropriate use of some mechanisms and commu- nication tools can enable them to effectively create and distrib- ute content that they will choose themselves ... So there is no limit to narration, respecting individu- als and the themes that narration brings with it, in the common construction of a representation of migration, which, who knows, may turn out to be far more dif- ferent to what is represented in mainstream media! What are some of the main stumbling blocks and issues that you found, when it comes to encouraging migrants to tell their stories? How do you think these issues could be circumvented? Yimer: Migrant stories are told by individuals as a consequence for every subject, one should cre- ate the place, the atmosphere, the time to listen those stories. One of the important questions to an- swer is: What do we need those stories for, and what is gained from telling them? If we don't have the answer we can't capti- vate the interest of the story teller. The answer to the question can change according to the circum- stances. We may simply need the stories to be exposed for the sake of research or journalistic purpos- es, archiving, political militancy/ activism, to write a book, a play, film or simply to share experienc- es among small groups. Building trust among the one who tells and the one who gathers the story is one of the best ways to start. Vitalini: Those attending the course know that we will all be part of a sharing "game" where the common goal is to use com- munication and the new media for our benefit, within a crea- tive context. Indeed, participants will be free to choose whatever subjects they want describe with words, pictures, video to learn the use the new and more common technologies and social media. According to data from the sec- ond quarter of 2017, Facebook has 2 billion active users every month and among them 1.3 bil- lion are using it every day! In oth- er words, it's a very large virtual community where people can en- ter to 'narrate themselves' in the ongoing process of self-building (an ever-more urgent concern within the context of migration), as well as to promote their own businesses and to maintain links between family and friends. Are you looking forward to collaborating with RIMA? What do you hope to achieve with the Digital Storytelling Workshop, and what appeals to you in RIMA's approach more generally speaking? Yimer: Yes, I'm very much looking forward to collaborating with the RIMA project. First of all, because they've invited me to share my experience and second- ly, I'm looking forward to find- ing out whether other migrants who find themselves in Malta – mostly by coincidence – could find something useful in my own experience. And last but not least, I believe that RIMA, and other such initiatives across Europe, are working against the flow. For this reason, sharing our experiences all across the European context is crucial. Vitalini: RIMA is an extremely interesting Maltese association because it is very composite, hy- brid, we might even say. Its an- thropological base is enriched by an artistic and cultural view in the knowledge of the other. It proposes a different way of see- ing contemporaneity that is het- erogeneous and irreducible to a unilateral and unique perspec- tive. The workshop is perfectly situated in this context, because it encourages the use of different voices and registers to bring its initiative to the fore. The ongoing, collaborative RIMA project – taking place under the auspices of the Valletta 2018 Foundation – will be holding a series of workshops in digital storytelling, once again inviting migrants of all nationalities living in Malta to learn how to tell their stories through new media platforms. TEODOR RELJIC catches up with the workshop's coordinators, Dagmawi Yimer and Francesca Vitalini Dagmawi Yimer Francesca Vitalini