Maltese stories read in Frankfurt

Claire Azzopardi presented two short stories during an event held in Frankfurt on the occasion of the literature programme Small Languages - Great Literatures, part of the Cultural Days of the European Central Bank.

Ms Azzopardi is a poet and author of children's text books and short stories.

She was project coordinator with Inizjamed, a non-profit governmental organisation that promotes socially-committed culture and Mediterranean forms of art and literature and has co-ordinated various workshops and EU projects within the organisation. Il-Linja l-Ħadra (The Green Line), her first collection of short stories, was published by Merlin in 2006.

Together with Dutch author Bas Heijne, Ms Azzopardi presented The Green Line and Immersed, both being strong narrations using rough language, dealing with social issues such as loneliness, violence and the deterioration of the family. The stories were read in German, with parts read in Maltese.

The reading session was presented by Ruth Fühner, a journalist from HR2 (Hessischer Rundfunk), the public broadcasting authority of the state of Hessen which is responsible for cultural programmes.

The event was organised on the initiative of the Embassy of Malta, Berlin, in cooperation with the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts.

Celebrating its 10th anniversary, the European Central Bank dedicated its annual event to the 27 EU member states.