LEUL+ at Malta Mediterranean Literature Festival 2018
Our long-standing cooperation with the festival and its organisers, Inizjamed, continued twith events associated with our project Literary Europe Live Plus, co-financed by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union. The 13th edition of the festival featuring the Turkish writer Aslı Erdoğan now living in exile in Germany. Other participants included the Icelandic novelist, poet and lyricist Sjón, Juana Adcock (Mexico/UK) and Clare Azzopardi (Malta), both selected as New Voices from Europe in 2016, Massimo Barilla (Italy), Jean-Rémy Gandon (France), the Frisian poet Arjan Hut (Netherlands), Laia López Manrique (Spain), Ali Thareb (Iraq) and Maltese authors Caldon Mercieca, Teodor Reljić and Philip Sciberras. It was held in the spectacular new venue in Fort Manoel with panoramic views of Valetta.
Asli Erdogan was interviewed by the Maltese author and translator Nadja Mifsud.
The festival starts with the annual LAF translation workshop and with a number of pre-festival events for the general public and for literary professionals. LAF director Alexandra Büchler moderates a session on Migration and Exile featuring two writers settled in Malta, the Palestinian Walid Nabhan, winner of the European Union Prize for Literature 2017 with his novel Exodus of Storks written in Maltese, and the Moroccan author Murad Shubert, Malian refugee known to everyone by his nickname Yayya, academic Dr Maria Pisani, co-founder of the NGO Integra, and Tamino Böhm, Head of the Mission Moonbird with Sea Watch. The session was coordinated by Jean Paul Borg who interpreted for Yayya.
The festival programme can be viewed here.
Panel debate on Exile and Migration. Photo: Katelia Art
Nadja Mifsud interviewing Aslı Erdoğan. Photo: Virginia Monteforte
