A poem of mine, “Ċaqċiqa,” translated into German from the original in Maltese by Ray Fabri, has been published in this beautifully produced anthology of contemporary world poetry. Many thanks to the editors, Alida Bremer and Michael Krüger.
Mario Cardona will remember hosting two of the writers from the Malta Mediterranean LIterature Festival 2016, Roja Chamankar and Marc Nair, but also Nathalie Grima and Lou Drofenik, at Ir-Razzett tal-Qasam in Manikata: that’s where this poem started. Because it is an attempt to imagine “a better world,” as the editors had requested when they wrote to me in 2016 to ask me to submit a text for this anthology:
On the occasion of the German OSCE (Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe) chairmanship the publishing house Propyläen (Ullstein Buchverlage Berlin) will publish an anthology, which shall contain contributions of authors from all participating countries. We – Michael Krüger and Alida Bremer – will be editing this anthology. The anthology begins with a preface of the German Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
The title of the anthology will be “Glückliche Wirkungen” (Prosperous Impacts) which is taken from a quote of J.W. Goethe: „One cannot change one’s century, but one can oppose it and prepare for prosperous impacts” (Goethe, Letter to Friedrich Schiller, Juli, 21st, 1798).
The main subject of the anthology shall be “A better world”. This subject can be approached with various literary genres (poetry, prose, graphic novel, comic, collage, monologue, dialog, fragment, essay etc.).
We will leave it to the imagination of the authors whether they recall a better past world or whether they draft a vision of a better future world or whether they refer to an existing proper world. The authors are free to approach the subject with a humorous view or to twist the idea of a better world with ironic means; they can have a critical view on the current world or transfer the subject to privacy. Crucial terms linked to “A better world” might be hope, dialog, solidarity, helpfulness, liberty, feeling of security, challenge.
Michael Krüger and Alida Bremer
Din hija l-verżjoni bil-Malti tal-poeżija tiegħi ppubblikat fil-ktieb Glückliche Wirkungen: Eine literarische Reise in bessere Welten, editjat minn Alida Bremer u Michael Krüger (Ullstein Buchverlage GmbH, Berlin, 2017).
L-istedina kienet tgħid hekk: “The title of the anthology will be “Glückliche Wirkungen” (Prosperous Impacts) which is taken from a quote of J.W. Goethe: “One cannot change one’s century, but one can oppose it and prepare for prosperous impacts” (Goethe, Letter to Friedrich Schiller, July 21st, 1798). The main subject of the anthology shall be ‘A better world’”.
Jien ktibt poeżija – li minn dejjem xtaqt nikteb – dwar kif nimmaġina dinja aħjar. U bdejt mir-Razzett tal-Qasam tal-Koperattiva Rurali tal-Manikata.
adriangrima.org 