The Meditarranean recently proved to be a source of inspiration for Kit Azzopardi, a Maltese award-winning writer and president of The Writers Club in Malta.
The protagonist of Azzopardi’s story struggles between chasing the divine night and being haunted by the routine obligations of life
Azzopardi ventured through the depths of the Mediterranean’s past into the Nile; the resulting piece, She Dreamt of Tomorrow, won this year’s edition of the Resurrection of Ancient Egypt 2012 Award, organised by The Forgotten Writers Foundation.
Azzopardi’s short story tells the tale of a young woman reaching the age of marriage, with her mother trying to convince her to start thinking about joining a man, a common scenario in any village in Egypt until today.
The daughter decides to share her dreams and notions with her mother, telling her how she does not belong to any man, but only “belongs to the night”. She describes how the night warms her, whereas men in general turn her cold. The story directly addresses the issue of many women ending up marrying for the sake of society, sometimes even against their will and intentions, while many men get married only with thoughts of owning their wife’s body.
The protagonist of Azzopardi’s story struggles between chasing the divine night and being haunted by the routine obligations of life.
The mother in the story serves as a symbol of the practical side of life, the one who knows that some things are necessary to survive and keep the village alive, for in the end we all need to find a way to live with one another.
The father, on the other hand, is portrayed as the mysterious fighter whose participation in their lives was very blurry, mainly due to a series of battles and hunting trips. His character can be considered as a metaphor for Egypt’s past; no one actually knows how this enigmatic civilisation started and what life form triggered it all.
The daughter, the protagonist, symbolises Egypt itself. Azzopardi’s is a metaphor for the beginning of humankind.
Throughout its history, Egypt has had to sacrifice a lot, just to keep surviving; this is what the daughter’s tale portrays.
The Forgotten Writers Foundation is currently running its second story competition, focusing on women’s domination. The main purpose behind the project is to study the way different cultures view the power of women in a diversity of spheres that range from work to sports, economy, psychology, relationships, politics and spirituality.
The competition also seeks to help each woman share her own power with others, and for men to contemplate women through literature. The winning stories will be published in one book. Entries are accepted until the end of February.
For rules and guidelines, visit http://mahmoudmansicriticreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/international-womens-day-short-story.html .