Klabb Kotba Maltin is set to celebrate the 50th anniversary since the publication of its first book on April 9, 1971. To herald this occasion,
Joseph Mizzi speaks to
Klabb Kotba Maltin published its first book 50 years ago. How did it all happen?
In the early 1960s, Malta was going through an identity resurgence which paralleled the country’s move towards political independence. Young literary figures were also moving towards new vibrancy and finding a more modern way of expressing themselves.
However, very little was being done to foster the country’s literary legacy. The number of new titles published in Malta annually rarely exceeded six books.
Midsea Books have just published a major work by Professor Henry Frendo, entitled
Maltese Overseas Settlements (473 pages, illustrated). The volume has a foreword by the Minister for Foreign and European Affairs, Evarist Bartolo, entitled Maltese and Gozitans in the World .
Apart from looking critically at the migrant phenomenon itself, with all its repercussions on mentality, lifestyles, communication, retention, loss and creativity, Prof. Frendo focuses on particular areas and aspects, including research data and networking. He also uses participant observation having visited or actually lived in some of the countries discussed, from the US and Britain to Egypt and Australia. Area chapters include Louisiana, especially New Orleans (where he was a Fulbright scholar), northern Africa, including Egypt, where he lived as a UNHCR rep, Tunisia, where he lectured, Greece, especially the Ionian Islands, Turkey, especially Smyrna (Izmir) and Constantinople (Istanbul). There are also d
The Addolorata Cemetery
photography by Charles Paul Azzopardi, Midsea Books, 2020
The Addolorata Cemetery must be our most visible cemetery. Nobody who drives in the roads that lead to the ‘south’ of the island can fail to see Emmanuele Luigi Galizia’s iconic neo-Gothic church proudly towering over what is for us a rare stretch of mature trees and greenery.
In spite of its sombre atmosphere, the whole enclave is a magnificent architectural achievement, not overlooking the scores of artistic monuments erected within to record the famous and the not so famous.
The Addolorata Cemetery tops the trilogy of books on Malta’s most important 19th-century cemeteries. Architect historian Conrad Thake has already authored the splendid volumes on the Ottoman cemetery at Marsa and Ta’ Braxia; the present book also has very significant contributions from Mario Borg, Mark Sagona and James Licari.
€10, ISBN 9789995725051
Tluq is John Aquilina’s second collection of poetry, following Leħnek il-Libsa Tiegħi, which also won the National Book Prize in 2010. The running theme is loss – the kind that keeps on giving and finds form in a poetry which explores the meanings of being a friend, sibling, son, grandson and parent.
Murder on the Malta Express: Who Killed Daphne Caruana Galizia?
By Carlo Bonini, Manuel Delia, John Sweeney
Midsea Books Ltd
€18, ISBN: 9789993277347
This detailed investigation follows a trail of dirty money and explores how the journalist’s assassination was a blow to those who care for truth.
Three weeks ago, I got a call from the National Book Council. They informed me that the National Book Prize would be awarded on December 18 and the book I co-wrote with Carlo Bonini and John Sweeney,
Murder on the Malta Express: Who Killed Daphne Caruana Galizia (Midsea Books), would be awarded the prize.
I confess I was pleased. This is the first book with my name on it and it will surprise few people to learn that my bruised ego enjoys a cuddle from time to time. I was also a little surprised. The executive chairman of the National Book Council and I do not run a mutual admiration society and, in any case, all government agencies or entities have stayed as far away from Daphne’s story as they could manage.