NEGOTIATING THE MEDITERRANEAN IMAGINARY: A PLANETARY READING OF OMAR N’SHEA’S “ES SIDR”
Fellowship at the University of Graz
On Thursday 23 April 2026 I gave a talk on “Negotiating the Mediterranean Imaginary: A Planetary Reading of Omar N’Shea‘s Es Sidr,” at Universität Graz in Austria as part of a fellowship in the Core Research area of Trans-Mediterranean Entanglements in the Faculty of Arts at Uni-Graz. Thanks to the colleagues and doctoral students present for their feedback and for an engaging discussion.
DECC RESEARCH CLUSTER AT UM
During our discussion I mentioned more than once, and with some pride, I must say, our Faculty of Arts Research Cluster on Discourses of the Environment and Climate Change (DECC) at L-Università ta’ Malta. The two initiatives are similar in scope and ambition and deal with important issues.
ESSAYS BEYOND MALTA
My theoretical positioning wouldn’t have been possible without the work we’ve been doing in the EU-funded project on Essays Beyond Borders led by the indomitable, inspirational Mario Aquilina and our colleagues, friends and partners in crime in Ghent, Groningen, Pisa, and Slovenia, most recently in the Easter School and International Conference held at the Univeristy of Pisa and coordinated (brilliantly) by Roberta Ferrari and Paolo Bugliani.
PROF STEFFEN SCHNEIDER
Special thanks to Prof. Steffen Schneider of the Institut für Romanistik at Uni-Graz for inviting me to the fewllowhip in Graz. We crossed paths when I contributed to the priże winning volume on Sea of Literatures (De Gruyter) which he co-edited. I was also great to meet up with another co-editor, Prof. Angela Fabris (Institut für Romanistik, Universität Klagenfurt), who travelled all the way from Klagenfurt to meet me and Steffen. This wouldn’t have been possible without your invitation, Steffen.
DOCTORAL SEMINAR
On Wednesday I met with six doctoral students most of whom are involved in the interdisciplinary Research area of Trans-Mediterranean Entanglements, to discuss their doctoral projects and share my own research. I also asked them about the various methodologies they are using and specifically on literature reviews. Thanks to Hannah Barmüller for coordinating the seminar and to the sweet smelling Bäckerei for hosting us. One of the PhD students, Pankhuri, appears in the photo we took after the talk. We really should have taken group photos after both events. But as we say in Maltese, Għall-magħmul m’hemmx kunsill.
DR CAROLINE GATT
The proverbial cherry on the cake was looking a bit more closely at my audience after having solved the usual technical issues and noticing an old friend, Dr Caroline Gatt. I was not aware that she is now teaching anthropology at the University of Graz and was so grateful that she had made the time to join us. Thanks for your contagious enthusiasm, principled stances, intelligence, and Italian pizza, Caroline. Looking forward to more conversations.
adriangrima.org 