[attach id=216645 size="large"][/attach]
A certain amount of literary agitation always surrounds the publication of a new anthology by Mario Azzopardi.
Horizons has just published the latest book by this writer, who has been reinventing himself for the last 45 years.
Il-Fabbrikant tal-Marjunetti (The Puppet Maker) comprises a collection of prose-poems and poetry, confirming Azzopardi’s mastery in extending the language creatively while keeping a finger on the social pulse.
Works dealing with the controversy surrounding the enactment of divorce legislation, others about the Arab Spring or a poem inspired by the demise of soul singer Amy Winehouse all point to a unique take on contemporary human reality.
Even when Azzopardi refers to historical characters, such as Caesar’s or Pontius Pilate’s wife or Nero, the appeal is to present-day experience.
With this new volume, Azzopardi also marks a partial return to poetry. His previous book (also published by Horizons) was characterised by a selection of provocative prose-poems, or rather, essay-poems.
This time, with Il-Fabbrikant tal-Marjunetti the poet explores a scenario highlighting a series of eccentric and grotesque characters. Although alienated from themselves and their environment, they are still questing after meaning in both human and cosmic existence.
Perhaps the best piece of writing that conveys this sense of deep malaise and pursuit is the one lending its title to the collection – a solitary artisan working on a series of marionettes inspired by the theatre world.
His apparent isolation is misleading because the puppets he produces encompass the full spectrum of human experience.
Mortality being an overriding theme of this collection, Azzopardi approaches it in a multitude of ways, ranging from that of the individual to the extinction of the species.
In a context in which academic circles have come up with the term ‘posthuman’ to refer to the interface between humans and technology, Azzopardi insists on asserting an implacable protest.
Disillusioned by humanity and its sickening insensitivity, the author persists in offering a profound document of the most eloquent and erotic facets of existence.
Works inspired by initiatives such as the group known as Clown Doctors, which mitigates depression and pain in hospitals, show that Azzopardi is still capable of dealing with the perennial theme of death in an innovative manner.
The collection includes a penetrating analysis by Prof. Charles Briffa and an epilogue by Prof. Oliver Friggieri.
It also confirms Azzopardi as technically intriguing in the disturbing mode of expression readers have come to expect from him. Here, he is once more engaged in a tussle with language even when he “distrusts” and “curses” it. And the book poses a fundamental question: who is the fabricator and who are the puppets?