Awturi Maltin ta’ Barra f’Simposju Letterarju
Nhar l-Erbgħa, 22 ta’ April 2015, bejn is-6.00pm u d-9.00pm, se jsir simposju letterarju, bil-Malti u bl-Ingliż, bis-sehem ta’ awturi Maltin jew ta’ nisel Malti li jgħixu barra minn Malta. Din l-attività, organizzata mid-Dipartiment tal-Ingliż u d-Dipartiment tal-Malti fil-Fakultà tal-Arti, bi sħab mal-Kumitat Organizzattiv tal-Konvenzjoni tal-Maltin li jgħixu barra, hija miftuħa għal kulħadd u d-dħul huwa b’xejn. M’hemmx bżonn ta’ reġistrazzjoni. Hemm aktar tagħrif dwar dan is-simposju fuq Facebook u fuq is-sit writersymposium.wordpress.com.
L-awturi li se jieħdu sehem huma Josephine Burden, Lou Drofenik, Karl Schembri, Aline P’nina Tayar, Mark Vella, Alex Vella Gera, u Anna Maria Weldon.
Fis-simposju se jkun hemm tliet sessjonijiet:
• 6.00pm – kitba trażlokata, sessjoni bil-Malti mmexxija minn Dr Adrian Grima, bis-sehem ta’ Mark Vella, Karl Schembri u Alex Vella Gera
• 6.45pm – diasporic writing, sessjoni bl-Ingliż immexxija mill-Prof. Stella Borg Barthet, bis-sehem ta’ Josephine Burden, Lou Drofenik, Aline P’nina Tayar, u Anna Maria Weldon
• 7.45pm – Pawża qasira
• 8.00pm – Diskussjoni bl-Ingliż bis-sehem tal-awturi kollha u interventi mill-pubbliku
• 9.00pm – Jintemm is-simposju.
Fil-pawża u fl-aħħar tas-simposju jkun hemm ftit ikel u xorb.
Hemm aktar tagħrif fuq is-sit writersymposium.wordpress.com u fuq Facebook.
Writing Home – Maltese Writers from Abroad
The Writing Home literary symposium featuring Maltese writers or writers of Maltese origin living abroad is being held on Wednesday, April 22 from 6:00pm to 9:00pm in the Auditorium of the University of Malta Valletta Campus in St Paul’s Street, Valletta. The general public is welcome to attend. Entrance is free and registration is not required.
This symposium is being organised by the Department of English and the Department of Maltese in the Faculty of Arts of the University of Malta in collaboration with the Organising Committee of the Convention for the Maltese Living Abroad 2015 within the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The languages of this symposium are Maltese and English.
The writers taking part in this event are Josephine Burden, Lou Drofenik, Karl Schembri, Aline P’nina Tayar, Mark Vella, Alex Vella Gera, and Anna Maria Weldon.
The programme consists of three sessions:
• 6.00pm – kitba trażlokata (translocated writing), a session in Maltese chaired by Dr Adrian Grima, with the participation of Mark Vella, Karl Schembri and Alex Vella Gera
• 6.45pm – diasporic writing, a session in English chaired by Prof. Stella Borg Barthet, with the participation of Josephine Burden, Lou Drofenik, Aline P’nina Tayar, and Anna Maria Weldon
• 7.45pm – A short break
• 8.00pm – A roundtable session in English with the participation of all writers who will also be taking questions from the floor
• 9.00pm – The symposium comes to a close
Refreshments will be served during the break and at the end of the symposium.
More information is available at writersymposium.wordpress.com and on Facebook.
Kitba Trażlokata
Din hija sessjoni dwar in-narrattiva bil-Malti li qed tinkiteb minn awturi Maltin li jgħixu barra iżda li aktarx jaraw ix-xogħol tagħhom, ippubblikat Malta, bħala parti integrali mill-ferment letterarju f’art twelidhom. Għalkemm din is-sessjoni se tiffoka fuq in-narrattiva għall-kbar, hemm ukoll poeti Maltin ta’ barra, bħal John Aquilina, Antoine Cassar u Nadia Mifsud, li qed jiktbu bil-Malti u jippubblikaw Malta. Din il-kitba relattivament ġdida Ivan Callus isejħilha “trażlokata,” għax waqt li hija parti mill-korpus letterarju kontemporanju ta’ Malta, indirizzata l-aktar lejn pubbliku Malti, qed tinkiteb f’pajjiżi oħrajn. Hija letteratura li, kważi kważi, setgħet inkitbet f’Malta. Jew le?
Għalkemm dawn l-awturi siefru, ejja ngħidu emigraw, għaxar snin ilu, jew aktar, ma nqatgħux mil-lingwa letterarja ta’ art twelidhom, u għandhom relazzjoni ħajja u djalettika mal-letteratura kożmopolita ta’ sħabhom f’Malta. Jista’ jkun li d-distanza fiżika hija biss virtwali. Imma jista’ jkun ukoll li tagħti lok għall-ħolqien ta’ distanza kritika mill-blata, jew saħansitra għal romantiċizzazzjoni tagħha? Dawn huma awturi li se jibqgħu jiktbu dwar Malta, dwar il-Malta li kienu jafu meta kienu għadhom jgħixu hemm? U se jibqgħu jiktbu inevitabbilment bil-Malti? Jista’ jkun li l-lingwaġġ letterarju tagħhom għandu xejriet partikulari u qed jagħti xi ħaġa differenti lil-letteratura kożmopolita Maltija?
Adrian Grima
—




This is the blurb related to the session on diasporic writing, chaired by Prof. Stella Borg Barthet (in picture), in which the four invited English-language writers will be taking part.
The third session, the roundtable discussion after the short break in which all the writers will be taking part, will tackle the issues that Stella Borg Barthet and Adrian Grima will have picked up from the first two sessions. It will also be an opportunity for the floor to make comments and ask questions.
Diasporic Writing
I will be raising some questions about the concept of “diaspora” and “diasporic writing”. As the study of diasporic, migrant, and transnational writing grows, these labels stretch further and further. At the same time certain notions about the qualities of diasporic writing become overly rigid. As an example of such stereotypical thinking, there is the idea that the images of the homeland put forward in diasporic writing either idealize the natal land or draw totally negative images of it. I will be looking at recent explanations of “diasporic writing” to see whether these can be useful in appreciating contemporary writing produced by Maltese emigrants.
Stella Borg Barthet


