Arts Council Malta participates annually in TRANSPOESIE in Brussels organised by the EUNIC Brussels Cluster

Launched in 2011, TRANSPOESIE is an annual poetry festival organised by EUNIC Brussels (the local network of European Union National Institutes for Culture) and its partners. The festival celebrates multilingualism by bringing poetry in as many languages as possible to Brussels. It marks the annual European Day of Languages and Linguistic Diversity on 26 September by organising a series of events in September and October.

Miriam Calleja is participating in 2021 with the following poem:

Xi ħadd pinġa fjura 
Fix-xitwa dawn id-djar misruqin mill-blat
għandom dehra differenti
fix-xitwa pass pass,
attent li ma tiżloqx, tasal
sa blata li waddbuha l-ġganti
‘l hawn, u fejn xi ħadd pinġa fjura
 
Fix-xita bil-baħar iħabbat,
bit-tafal nieżel bil-mod,
bir-riħ isaffar f’widnejja,
jekk jirnexxilek tasal sa dik il-blata
fejn ma naraw lil ħadd ieħor
fejn taparsi l-ġganti konna aħna
fil-kwiet hawnhekk - fl-istorbju
tal-baħar, bit-tafal nieżel mal-faċċata
hekk, hawnhekk, ngħidlek li nħobbok.

 

About the poet

Miriam Calleja is a bilingual poet and Maltese wordsmith. She has been published in a number of journals and poetry anthologies worldwide, where her work has been translated into Slovene, Greek, Romanian, French, Norwegian, German, and Frisian.  She dedicates her time to facilitating creative writing workshops, performing and writing for performances or publications. Miriam believes that poetry and prose are tools for storytelling that encourage unity, connection, and understanding. She has great faith in collaboration as a key to communication. She moonlights as a health writer and pharmacist, loves the sea, cats, coffee, and travelling. Her most recent health-related publication is ‘COVID19 and the virus that shook the world’, published in May 2020 by Oppian Press. Read more on miriamcalleja.com

 

Norbert Bugeja participated in 2020 with the following poem:

Insa li M’hijiex Hawn
Insa li m’hijiex hawn, u ersaq lejha
min-nofsinhar tax-xatt li qatt ma ssemmi
ma tmurx tintesa fik it-togħma tiegħu:
insa s-sogħba tal-melħ taħraq f’għajnejha
u meta tersaq lejk, la toqgħodx lura
mill-fwieħa ta’ ħuġbejha huma u jibku
l-fdalijiet tal-jum idub f’nofs il-qiegħa.
Insa li m’hijiex hawn. La taqa’ s-sirda
idħol għall-kenn taħt is-saqaf ta’ ħalqha
u tifhem għaliex qatt ma nstema’ isbaħ
das-sigriet minn meta fesfsitulek hi.
Insa t-taħbit bla rażan ta’ sidirha
fil-jum li fih miet is-sultan Użżija
u imxi tul ix-xatt tad-diqa tagħha:
insa li m’hijiex hawn. Jekk qatt tiftakar,
il-qiegħ ta’ din il-kelma jaf jiċċara
u minnu, sa ma jisbaħ, jibqa’ jinfdek
bla heda r-rifless kursar ta’ ħarsitha.
 

About the poet

Norbert Bugeja is a poet and academic. He has published two poetry collections in Maltese: Nartiċi (Klabb Kotba Maltin, 2016) was shortlisted for the National Book Prize (2017) and Bliet (Edizzjonijiet Emma Delezio, 2009) was awarded second placing at the National Book Awards (2010). Two collections of his poetry have also appeared in English translation: South of the Kasbah (trans. Irene Mangion; Midsea Books 2016) and Stay, Fairy Tale, Stay! Memoirs of a City Cast Adrift (trans. Maria Grech Ganado; Inizjamed / Midsea Books 2005).

  

Immanuel Mifsud participated in 2011 with the following poem: 

Fil-Pjazza Ċentrali ta’ Martin (Is-Slovakkja)
Ħtija tiegħli li għadna qatt ma ltqajna
Minkejja l-vjaġġi twal l’għamilt tul ħajti?
Fittixtek. Tassew fittixtek. Sejjaħtlek
F’kull ajruport li nżilt, f’kull ferrovija
Li rkibt biex qsamt il-fruntieri inviżibbli
Bejn dati jifirduna minn xulxin. 

Ħtija tiegħli li ħbatt se naqta’ qalbi?
Għax wara dawn il-kilometri kollha, 
nixtieq li nagħti ħarsa twila lura
biex forsi naqbad ħjiel l-itinerarju,
ir-rotot kollha żbalji li nqbadt fihom,
biex forsi fl-aħħar nieqaf nistrieħ ftit.

  

About the poet

Immanuel Mifsud teaches literary theory and Maltese literature at the University of Malta. He has published seven poetry collections and seven prose works. He has also published a collection of stories for children and book of lullabies. Immanuel Mifsud won the National literary award in 2002 for his short story collection Sara Sue Sammut’s Strange Stories. His academic work focuses mostly on bodily representations in Maltese literature. Several works by Mifsud have been translated and published in various European languages.