Friday, September 26, 2008

Another big success for the Maltese Poets Association

Kilin at his desk

Charles Magro compering and the
hundredfold audience


On Thursday, 25th September, 2008, the Maltese Poets Association, together with the Rabat Local Council, held an evening dedicated to the late Kilin, prolific writer of poetry, short stories, novels, and more. And this thanks to a suggestion made earlier by Maltese Poets Association member, Pauline Zammit. The venue chosen was the Convent of the Dominicans in Rabat. Secretary of the MPA, Charles Magro, compered, while vice-President, Patrick Sammut, talked about the MPA activities during the years and its duty to pay tribute to well-known poets like Kilin who always helped the Association when asked to do so.

A number of MPA members read poems written by Kilin and also parts from "Fuq il-Ghajn ta' San Bastjan" and "Kappelli u Knejjes Zghar". Poet and member Therese Pace introduced Kilin's works, while Dr. Joseph Axiaq, also vice-Secretary of the MPA, read a short critical study about Kilin written by President, Alfred Massa.
Miriam Camilleri and Joanna Galea

The evening was accompanied by the music of folk singer and guitarist, Walter Micallef, and by the divine contributions of singer and MPA member, Miriam Camilleri who sang "L-Ewwel Imhabba", written by Marie Therese Vassallo - music by Frank Vassallo - (accompanied by Joanna Galea on the piano), and soprano Marie Therese Vassallo.

Walter Micallef



Marie Therese Vassallo





Mario Caruana, Therese Pace and Kilin's daughter, Rosalie Caruana, all read poems dedicated to Kilin. Agatha Zahra, another of Kilin's daughters, sang Kilin's "In-Namrat".




One of Kilin's daughters:
Agatha Zahra


The evening was closed by Rabat's Mayor, Alexander Craus, who expressed his love for books, reading, the Maltese language and writers (including Kilin), and Malta's cultural heritage. The Maltese anthem was sang by Miriam Camilleri.


Alexander Craus, Mayor of Rabat
Those present (over a hundred) were after invited to a reception.

Monday, September 22, 2008

A beautiful poem from Chile

A few days ago I received a very nice comment directly from Chile. Maritza Barreto wrote the following:

DEAR PATRICK
I´M A CHILEAN WOMAN AND TO ME ARRIVED YOUR BLOG. CONGRATULATIONES IT IS WANDERFULL. I WANT SEND YOU A POEM FOR YOUR BLOG.
Wish you peace...

Maritza sent me a poem of hers, but since I do not understand Spanish, I first asked my friend Stephen Cachia to read it and write me a short summary to describe it.
Stephen Cachia likes it so much that he even translated it in English!
So, thanks to Maritza from Chile and to Stephen from Malta... readers can appreciate this beautiful poem in both Spanish and English.

SPANISH VERSION:


La roca y la espuma
La ola y la arena
El invisible diseño que dibujas en el aire cuando vuelas
y mi precaria existencia de barca a la derivate proclaman
emperador de los mares
a ti
pelícano milenario

Lllevas en tus alas inscrito el secreto del universo.
Hasta el océano grandioso
empequeñece
y se hace espejo por
duplicar el esplendor de tu vuelo.
El aire que rasgas,
seda celeste,
cruje
gime
suavemente
con tu vuelo silencioso

y el viento de las alturas peina tus plumas prehistóricas.
Mas tú
sereno
entrecierras los ojos de membranas recibiendo la brisa placentera
que acaricia tus alas elegantes
Ni siquiera te agitas
E ignoras sabiamente
la humana emoción que me conmueve


ENGLISH VERSION:

The rock and the foam
The wave and the sand
The invisible design that you draw in the air when you fly
and my precarious existence of lost boat
proclaim you
emperor of the seas
you, oh pelican of the thousand years.

You carry in your wings the secret of the universe inscribed
Even the grand ocean
becomes small
and turns into a mirror
duplicating the splendour of your flight.
The air which you scratch
celestial silk,
crunches
moans
softly
with your silent flight.

and the wind of your heights combs your prehistoric feathers.
But you,
serenely,
lock your membrane eyes
receiving the placental breeze
that caresses your elegant wings,
you never move,
and wisely ignore
the human emotion that moves me so

Note to Maritza: Your poem is beautiful. It also gives me a sense of wide spaces and freedom. I'd like to interview you for my blog regarding the place where you live, you as a person and your relationship to poetry, nature and other things. (Patrick)

Two PEACE POEMS from India


Dear Promoters of Universal Peace



GOOD MORNING


I feel it a privilege to spread the message of Peace through peace poems on the occasion of International Day of Peace (21 September). As such, I furnish hereunder TWO of my poems exclusively composed to commemorate the International Day of Peace. It would be more effective if you can do the favor of spreading and sharing the message of peace through your mailing lists.






LET US JOIN HANDSPEACE


A global culture of peace


Should we aim to cultivate in each,


A potential force should we become


A move, the universe would welcome.




Irrespective of caste, creed and religion


Let us co-exist with love and concern,


With pride, let us hold the flags of peace


A harmonious era, let us unfold and see.




Imparting the message of peace and love


Let us pledge to be devoted and brave,


Our effort to fight for universal peace


Should scare and jolt the adverse forces.




Oh! What a delight, what a spectacle


Peace has such a delight and appeal,


Let us join hands for a genuine cause


To save humanity from conflict phase.


HOW FAR IS IT ….

The menacing clouds of war


Often pounce to create havoc,


The pigeons of peace


Scared and scattered, fly away.




The storm of hatred


The storm of enmity


The storm of death


The storm of destruction,


These devastating forces


Design the ugly face of war.




Men or women


Children or youth


Aged or the sick


Rich or the poor;


The ferocious WAR


Without care and concern


Without pity or parity


Extends its biased hand


Against the co-humans.




Ignoring the path of truce


The will and wish


Of the super powers


Ultimately would prevail.


It is the co-human


Who bears the brunt?


It is an act inhuman


That should be denounced.




On whom …


Should the blame be put?


On whom ….


Should the outcome be focused?


How far is it justified ….


To instill fear among citizens


To enforce self-declared laws


To massacre the innocents


To rain bombs on civilians


To create mass destructions


To treat civilians as criminals


To aggressively destabilize nations?




PS : If time permits, you may post comments on the poems




Poetically YoursDr. T. Ashok Chakravarthy, Litt.DH.


No. 16-2-836/L, Plot-39Madhavnagar, Saidabad


HYDERABAD - 500 059 [AP] INDIA


Kumment pozittiv dwar dil-blogg

Il-poetessa Therese Pace ghadha kemm baghtitli dawn il-messaggi:

Kumment 1: Dhalt nara ftit il-blog tieghek u veru kien fih x'tara. Ghadni ma rajtx kollox, tajtu daqqa t'ghajn fuq fuq u nerga' nidhol il-lejla biex niflih sew. Hemm hafna artikli interessanti imma l-ewwel li harist kien ghar-rapport ta' Ravenna. Milli jidher kellkom esperjenza sabiha hafna. Prosit. Issa gibuha fuq il-gazzetti kollha biex min ma jridx ukoll ikollu jaraha!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ghad irrid naqra sew l-intervista ma' dak il-professur Rumen. Veru ghandek kuntatti interessanti int. Dwar l-intervista tieghi harget tajba imma dejjem nghid jien fejn haddiehor jien farka. Dwar it-tnejn Awstraljani nistqarr li qatt ma kont smajt bihom avolja Karkarizi. Biex tara kemm jiswa blog hekk.
Tislijiet u prosit mill-gdid
Therese

Kumment 2: Xtaqt inzid ma ta' qabel biex tkun taf kemm hu siewi u segwit il-blog tieghek. Minnu dahlu sitta fis-sit tieghi wara li ppostjajt l-intervista tieghi, u dawn mill-Korea, Argentina, America. Spanja u lussemburgu.
grazzi
Therese

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Therese Pace intervistata

I came to know poet and writer Therese Pace from B'Kara during one of the Poetry Evenings organized regularly by the Maltese Poets Association. This means that I knew her even before she published her winning (and first) poetry anthology, Arpeggi, back in 2003. What I can say about Therese Pace is that her poetry is real and that she is one of the best female poetical voices here in Malta. Her poetry in Maltese, English and Italian is published and acknowledged in Malta but also abroad. And yet as a person she is so humble. Therese Pace, keep it up and best of luck. Visit her website: www.freewebs.com/theresepace

Xi tgħid Therese Pace dwar l-opportunitajiet li joffru għaqdiet bħall-GhPM?

Huma ta' siwi kbir lill-letteratura u għalhekk ta' min jinkoraġġihom u jsostnihom moralment u anki finanzjarjament biex ikomplu jrendu l-frott. Huma l-benniena tal-poeta-tarbija, il-vetrina fejn min għadu qiegħed isib saqajh fix-xena letterarja jista' jesponi xogħlijietu għall-gost u l-kritika kostruttiva. Huma nixxiegħa ta' riżors uman ħeġġien, promoturi senza interessi tal-kelma miktuba, grupp fejn wieħed jitgħallem mill-ieħor, speċjalment mill-poeti diġa stabbiliti u fejn permezz tal-konkorsi annwali li jorganizzaw, wieħed ikun jista' jevalwa f'liema stadju wasal u x'inhuma l-ingredjenti ta' poeżija tajba. Mingħajrhom tħossok iżolat għax huma sors ta' kuraġġ għall-poeti emerġenti, jgħinuk tegħleb kull sens ta' nferjorità u temmen fik innifsek. Jgħinuk bil-pariri u bl-esperjenza tagħhom meta tiġi biex tippublika l-ewwel darba u mhux hekk biss iżda apparti l-appoġġ morali jgħallmuk ukoll (għax imġarrba) saħansitra kif issib suq għall-prodott tiegħek, ħaġa li kull min jippublika jaf kemm hi diffiċli. Dan il-benefiċċju kollu u iktar nista' ngħid li ħadtu jien stess kemm ili membru. Infatti tista' tqis li din l-istess intervista hija eżempju ċar u kontinwazzjoni ta' dan.

X'taħseb dwar l-opportunitajiet li joffri l-internet lil poeti bħalek?

L-internet bla dubju huwa għodda effiċjenti, irħisa, komda u fuq kollox effettiva li tippermetti lil nies bħali li l-mezzi tagħħhom u l-firxa fejn jimirħu huma limitati, jistgħu jmiddu riġlejhom ukoll barra minn xtutna. Li ma kienx għalih żgur li l-pass modest li s'issa għamilt ma kienx ikun possibbli. Għandek id-dinja tmiss mal-ponot ta' subgħajk, opportunitajiet ġodda bla limitu x'tisfrutta, udjenza pronta biex tisimgħek u tevalwak b'mod dirett, insomma lok faċli fejn issib nies bl-istess interess tiegħek u b'kulturi differenti biex magħhom tagħmel skambji elettroniċi ta' ħsibijiet u kultura.. Illum anki kotba sħaħ tista' tpoġġi fuq l-internet u tkun ippublikajt mingħajr ebda spejjeż. Ngħid għalija nfittex li nieħu kemm nista' minn din il-possibilità.

Naf li ħafna mill-poeżiji tiegħek issibhom imferrxin fuq siti elettroniċi differenti. Semmi ftit minn dawn is-siti fejn wieħed jista' jsib il-kitbiet tiegħek.

Il-kitbiet tiegħi nipprova nesportahom kemm nista' għax huma l-vuċi tiegħi u min jisma' lilhom isir jaf li neżisti. X'uħud mis-siti elettroniċi fejn wieħed jista' jsib il-poeżiji tiegħi huma www.freewebs.com/theresepace, http://www.ghpm.netfirms.com/, patrickjsammut.blogspot, european poetry in motion, write me a metaphor, http://www.larioinpoesia.blogspot.com/, ecumenical world patriarchate, tra le parole e l'infinito, poetry malta, Bottega letteraria u oħrajn.

Naf li inti tikteb bil-Malti, bl-Ingliż u bit-Taljan. X''vantaġġi għandu l-poeta meta jikteb b'ilsna differenti?

Nikteb b'dawn il-lingwi għax inħossni komda fihom f'dak il-mument u mhux għal xi vantaġġ partikolari. Huwa fatt, però li inti tkun qed twessa' l-medda ta' fejn timraħ u forsi b'hekk tista' tkattar l-opportunitajiet ta' għarfien u ssib niċċa skond l-istil partikolari tiegħek. Iżda mhux bilfors. Donnu li kull pajjiż, minkejja kollox, għandu l-istil l-iktar imħaddem tiegħu u poeżija ma tintogħġobx l-istess f'pajjiżi differenti. Nazzarda ngħid li t-Taljani għadhom xi ftit iktar konservattivi minn ħaddieħor fejn tidħol il-poeżija. Min-naħa l-oħra, fir-Renju Unit illum titħaddem iktar il-poeproża. Għalhekk tagħmel tajjeb li tifrex djulek kemm tista' għax iktar għandek ċans li għeruqek jaqbdu fis-sod.

Liema huma t-temi ewlenin li tittratta fil-poeżiji tiegħek? X'forom metrici u prosodiċi tħaddem l-iktar?

Temi soċjali u poeżiji deskrittivi nħobbhom ħafna, l-element reliġjuż jinħass qawwi wkoll fil-kitbiet tiegħi, imbagħad ir-romantiku ma jonqosx speċjalment l-imħabba bejn id-diversi ġenerazzjonijiet li tista' tgħid hija l-ħolqa li tifforma l-katina tal-ħajja. L-element tal-maternità -wara kollox jien mara u omm. Inħossni komda ħafna nuża' l-vers ħieles, mhux għal kollox imma, għax inħoss li hu dover tiegħi li kultant nerġa' lura minn fejn tlaqt billi ndaħħal ir-rima talanqas 'l hawn u 'l hinn biex nagħti melodija isbaħ lill-poeżija. Għax poeżija hija melodija. Meta mbagħad inkun qed nittratta tema jew persuna speċjali bla ma rrid arani ndur għall-poeżija tradizzjonali. Dik hija mmortali u għandha postha dejjem. L-iktar, il-vers endekasillabu jew tat-tmienja, għax jinstemgħu ħelwin, mexxejja u melodjużi ħafna. Bħala prosodija il-kwartina u t-terzina li daż-żmien qed tintuża ħafna. Ma jfissirx imma li ma nħaddimx forom oħra wkoll.

L-ewwel ġabra poetika tiegħek ARPEĠĠI kienet ippremjata mill-Kunsill Nazzjonali tal-Ktieb. X'ifisser dan għalik?

Li jkollok l-ewwel attentat ta' pubblikazzjoni tiegħek ippremjat bl-iktar premju ta' prestiġju li jeżisti f'Malta ma jistax jonqos milli jagħtik sodisfazzjon kbir u jagħmillek kuraġġ biex tkompli tikteb u tippubblika. Jurik li għallinqas qbadt id-direzzjoni t-tajba u jħeġġek biex tkompli miexi 'l quddiem waqt li ttejjeb. Ifisser li hemm barra sibt min apprezza l-fatt li għad li l-edukazzjoni tiegħi kienet bażika, minn dak li ħadt, għaraft inrodd lura xi ħaġa pożittiva u fuq kollox ta' ċertu valur letterarju. Ta' dan nirringrazzjahom. Iġġħielni nistinka iktar biex lil min ra xi ftit tat-talent fija issa nagħtih raġun. Mill-bqija trid iżżomm saqajk ma' l-art.

Minn fejn u meta twieled l-interess tiegħek fil-poeżija u fil-kitba in ġenerali?

L-interess fil-poeżija nħoss li twieled miegħi. Dak tal-kitba inġenerali żviluppa iktar tard. Ta' età ċkejkna kont irreċtajt poeżija ta' għoxrin strofa bl-amment fuq il-palk ta' l-iskola għall-ħabta tal-Milied u mort tajjeb ħafna.. Dejjem nafni naqra l-poeżiji u kull fejn immur inġorr il-ktieb miegħi. Barra minn hekk il-kurunelli li kienet tgħid ommi kull fil-għaxija minn dejjem affaxxinawni bir-rima tagħhom. Kienu l-ewwel poeżiji li smajt fuq ħoġor ommi u nħoss li kienu ta' spunt qawwi għalija biex nibda nikteb. Kif kien ukoll il-Pronostku Malti li ma kont infalli qatt milli nixtri meta joħroġ. Dan l-aħħar ktibt ukoll xi novelli bil-Malti, żewġ drammi b'att wieħed bl-Ingliż u lirika għal oratorju lil Sant'Elena li għad irid jiġi mmużikat. Ktibt ukoll leġġenda, imma din ħafna snin ilu.

X'tissuġġerixxi lil min irid ikollu suċċess bħala kittieb jew poeta?

Ġenwinità. Li l-ewwel nett jaqra ħafna kitbiet ta' poeti stabbiliti, li josserva ħafna u jixtarr ħafna għax b'hekk jagħti lewn u varjanzzjoni lill-ħsieb tiegħu meta jiġi biex jikteb. Li jimxi bil-pass tiegħu għax inkella jaqta' nifsu. Imbagħad li ma jaqtax qalbu mill-kritika għax il-kritika hija għodda essenzjali biex tistabbilixxi l-livell li trid tilħaq u biex tagħraf l-isfidi ta' quddiemek. Li jkun oriġinali kemm jista', u joħloq xi tip ta' timbru li jiddistingwieh minn ħaddieħor. Għall-kumplament taħseb il-muża.

Qatt ipparteċipajt f'xi proġett marbut mal-kitba ta' nisa esklussivament?

Proġetti straordinarji le. Ħadt sehem f'xi konkorsi li kienu miftuħa biss għan-nisa, sew fl-Ingilterra kif ukoll fl-Italja, f'iljieli ta' qari f'Malta ddedikati lin-nisa u fi programm letterarju fuq ir-radju min-nisa għan-nisa.

Proġetti futuri?

L-iktar proġett qarib huwa ktejjeb ta' Taħriġ il-Fehem għall-istudenti li ħejjejt flimkien man-neputija li hija għalliema tal-Malti fi skola Sekondarja. Mistenni li jiġi varat fi żmien il-fiera tal-ktieb. Qed naħdem ukoll fuq antoloġija poetika bl-Ingliż għax inħoss li tista' twasslek fejn l-antoloġija bil-Malti, minħabba r-restrizzjoni ta' l-istess lingwa, ma setgħetx tasal. Ta' wara jafu Alla.

An interview with poet Dorin Popa, Romania

I came to know Dorin Popa for the first time thanks to some photographs he sent through internet of Christmas (2007) in Iasi. And this, again, through my contacts with Teresinka Pereira. Last May/June I went on an educational visit to Iasi but could not meet Prof. Popa because we were both busy with other things. However, I managed to give him a set of poetry books written by the members of the Maltese Poets Association.

Prof. Dorin Popa was available from the first e-mail I sent him. He was delighted when I sent him the following questions to answer.


1. As a poet do you believe that there is a place where things are not "cracked, dull and decayed"? How do you react to people saying that poets are only dreamers?

D.P.: When I was younger, I thought such a place couldn’t exist. I thought that indeed everything is "cracked, dull and decayed" in this world. Back then, although I believed in love, I couldn’t picture and I couldn’t really understand the heavenly power of love. I did not know that love could even revive the dead people. I think the place you’re asking me about is in the hearts and souls of people. Of all people, not just of those of poets. I do not look like Don Quijote, although I respect him very much and I think he is still traveling among us. Poetry can be our continous proposal, our response to the challenges of reality. And this proposal can be suave, inquiring, friendly or devoid of any rigidity and authoritarianism. Although I believe in poetry, I do not believe in poets. I've never looked in the mirror telling myself that I am writing poems. Poetry is rather a fault, than a jubilation to me.

2. In one of your poems you write: "I want to run away". Run away from what?

D.P.: Run away from my guilt, my childhood, my youth, from everything that I was and I didn’t like to be. I gathered and kept a lot of perplexities about me, during my childhood and youth. I felt like I could have wings, whose extent I could not measure and whose existence I could not approximate. I want to get rid of all my faces that I have not liked.

3. Why is it that poets wish that their poems be published in different languages? In which languages do you directly write your poetry?

D.P.: In Romanian. I write my poems in my native language. Your question about the poets’ wish to be published in different languages is so deep that it could support several levels of response.
1. First of all, there is a joy of communication and meeting with each other.
2. Then, there’s the desire to find out if you are compatible with this world, not only with the world of your own language. When I first sent poems to literary competitions in France, I was less interested in the awards, but in the fact that I can come close to people from other geographical and linguistic spaces, to whom I have something meaningful to say. They could comprehend me and my world, they accept me and my thoughts. This was the first sign showing that I’m not living outside this world, outside its sensitivity – an enormous and positive emotion that I always feel.After communism - when no one could communicate with anyone - all of a sudden, after 1990, I could communicate with this world. I found it fantastic and this emotion never leaves me since then.

4. How important is it for poets to have contacts with other poets all over the world?

D.P.: First, we have the human contact that can be many times awesome. I could not get out of Romania until the age of 40, when I was invited to attend a congress in Portugal where I met leading poets - among them Wole Soyinka, Nobel Prize laureate in 1986. I was going to meet him again after 10 years, in 2005, with the occasion of another important conference in Medellin, Colombia. Albert Camus took a dislike to poets who considered themselves damned. I am not a lover of poets who think they can write poetry in every moment of their existence – from Monday to Sunday. Poetry cannot be achieved and touched in any/every moment of our lives. Most of the cases it’s better to be reluctant against the quality of the poetry that introduces itself too fast. Likewise against the poets who seem to write effortless.

5. As a poet but also as a human being, what are the questions that torment you most? Is there a solution or an answer for them?

D.P.: I have always been fascinated by the infinite opportunities to fool yourself, to lie to yourself, to be blinded by yourself and your "unique" solutions. I believe in every person’s chance to advance, to grow as much as, to cry peccavi and to try it back. Do you think we can ever make a new departure after the moment of birth?

6. Is poetry for you a play on words or does it have to carry a message?

D.P.: Poetry it's a play on words, but on those words expressing the truth. The message, if any, may come solely after the play on words. Not before. Otherwise, poetry disappears in science or politics, ideology, etc.

7. Life and death are 2 words which you often use in your poetry. Why so? What else does poet Dorin Popa write about?

D.P.: I think I started to get close to life and death exactly by using these words – life and death. I might have used them at first unwittingly, wishing to capture everything important. Perhaps I use the word life and the word death more often today precisely because I want to get closer to my death and my life. Actually, one of my obsessions is the fear of loosing them both, of not being truly alive to any of them. I can only write about the depredation that reality carves out in my soul.

8. You are a teacher at the Journalism Dept of Cuza Univ. in Iasi. Is there a common factor which unites the teacher, the journalist and the poet?

D.P.: I always wanted to hide to my students the fact that I’m writing poetry. Anyway, I never talked about poetry at classes and seminars. It seems to me, likely wrong, this is just a matter of mine, intimate, unworthy of being brought up. Therefore, even this year, a graduate confessed that she did not know, all along the years of study, that I write lyrics. This is a problem that I dare to get close to only now. Not to consider poetry a failure, an eczema, an excrescence or an invalidity of my being. Only now, after 50 years, I’m trying to face up to the fact that yes, I write lyrics. I was a journalist for many years and that helps me a lot as a teacher. I think the poet inside is helping me nothing but to love my students, to experience a deep brotherhood beyond any reasons of age, status etc.

9. Describe in brief: a. Dorin Popa as person; b. the city you live in.

a. Associate Professor, Department of Journalism and Communication Sciences, Faculty of Letters, University Al.I.Cuza, Iasi. Ph.D. in Humanities, specialty Philology. Master of Journalism. B.S. in Physics. Peer evaluation expert of the Romanian National University Research Council (CNCSIS, 2004-present) and the Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ARACIS, 2007-present), the Socio-Human and Economics Sciences Committee.He has published 7 books in the field of Journalism and Communication, over 20 volumes of poetry (original and in translation in over 10 languages) and 3 volumes of interviews with great Romanian personalities. He has been invited to numerous prestigious international festivals (Medellin / Colombia, Chile, London / UK, Havana / Cuba, Los Angeles / USA) and organized 2 international congresses in Romania. He was editor, secretary general, editor-in-chief and deputy chief editor at the magazine Dialogue of the University "Al. I. Cuza "(1979-1983), editor-in-chief at Time magazine, Iasi (1990), editor of the publishing house of the "Al. I. Cuza” University, Iasi (1990-1992), first editor (columnist) at the Contemporanul magazine, Bucharest, pathronized by the Romanian Ministry of Culture (1991-1999), head of the cultural department at the newspaper Monitorul / Ziarul de Iasi (1992-1997), director of the radio talk-show Comprehension’ Exercises, Radio North-East, Iasi (1998-2000). Member of the Romanian Writers Union, of AFJC (Association of Trainers of Journalism and Communication), AROSS (Romanian Association for Semioctics - founder).

b. The city of Iasi, in north-eastern Romania, was mentioned in documents for the first time by Alexandru cel Bun (Alexander the Good), being a remarkable educational centre and preserving some beautiful pieces of architecture, like Trei Ierarhi Church and the neo-Gothic Palatul Culturii (Palace of Culture) (the place where are to be found four museums: the History Museum, the Technology Museum, the Ethnography Museum and the Art Museum). Many buildings in the old city center were demolished during the Communist regime, with a few Soviet-style blocks of flats, but also some recent modern buildings, like “Petre Andrei” University or “Europa” Hotel built instead.
Many great cultural personalities have their roots in Iasi: Ion Creanga, Mihail Kogalniceanu, Gheoghe Asachi, Mihail Sadoveanu, Octav Bancila and so on.
The local authorities organize each year an extraordinary festival, in the middle of October: the festival of Iasi, called “Sarbatorile Iasiului”. This is also the time of a religious pilgrimage at Saint Parascheva’s relics. Sometimes there come even a million persons from our country and from abroad.
POEMS OF DORIN POPA:


MY DEATH - MY LIFE

had things not hit me
with such fury
I might not have seen them
I might have never cared about
them
my sadness - my joy
sometimes I am allowed to see
how evil mingles with good
how from their combination
everything comes to life
my death - my life
I would have never found the way to you
if I hadn’ t wandered about
if so many nights hadn’ t blinded me
if I hadn’ t found comfort in loneliness
sometimes in the middle of the tempest
deep silence overwhelms me
and while I am hit, battered and slashed
I can see in silence
how my death feeds my life

DUST AND ASHES

“There is a worm hidden in the Cosmos”
( Constantin Noica )

even though things are stained
in wonder I notice:
they are still getting further stained
no one ever stops,
no one ever advances.

once
very closely
a pure sound passed
those that can still hear it
hasten to forget it
STORIA D´AMORE
( SCELGO SEMPRE TE )
quando stramazzavo credevo di innalzarmi
ero malato, incantato dai miei propri confini
una voce di dentro - straniera - mi sussurava
che dentro era fuori, mentre il fuori si trovava
profondamente dentro.
poi ti ho scorto per la prima volta
molto dopo che ti avevo stretto fortemente in braccio
il mio pensiero ti ha scelto ed io scelgo sempre te.
ogni momento scopro di vivere dentro di te ma
me ne allontano per non perderti.
I MIEI VAGITI DI BAMBINO
mi avvicino alla vecchiaia e continuo a nascondere
sotto l´abito
i miei vagiti di bambino
Dio, rimango sempre indietro !
la malinconia ed il vuoto
appoggiano
il mio universo troppo piano
gli ostacoli e l´incertezza
decidono
per me
lo spavento viene a trovarmi
insieme alla speranza
neanche un secolo se vivessi
non mi basterebbe per
piangere in terra
fino alla fine
questa mia vita
che e` sul punto di sfuggirmi.

A memorable visit to RAVENNA

In the Basilica of St. Francis (Friday, 19 th Seotemper 2008)
(Left to right: Walter Della Monica, Patrick Sammut,
Prof. Alessandro Gentili and Alfred Palma)
Alfred Palma and Patrick Sammut in front

of Dante Alighieri's tomb in Ravenna

Poet and translator Alfred Palma, together with poet and literary critic Patrick Sammut, last Saturday afternonn retrurned to Malta from Ravenna where, earlierlier this year, Palma was invited by the Centro Relazioni Culturali to visit Ravenna to add Malta's name to those of the other countries which have Dante's Divina Commedia translated in their own tongue. Palma and Sammut were very cordially received; they visited the Comune, were they were presented with a bronze medal, to then tour this lovely mediaeval town, paying a memorable visit to Dante's tomb, annexed to the Basilica of San Francesco. Here, last Friday evening, before a large audience, Palma and Sammut were interviewed by Professor Alessandro Gentili of Madison University (Firenze). Palma was asked questions regarding his Maltese translation, whilst Sammut was questioned about Dante's influence and fortune in Malta over the years. After a reading in Italian of Canto II of Il Purgatorio, Palma, visibly moved, read out his version in Maltese, to be greeted with a long round of applause. Then, Palma and Sammut were honoured with the prestigious trophy Lauro Dantis and a beautiful diploma in parchment form. The two authors were then invited to a reception , with other distinguished guests who had attended this memorable evening in Ravenna, where Malta and the Maltese language were given the honour they always deserved!

See also: http://www.centrorelazioniculturali.it/