Rather like the Welsh, we Maltese are indubitably a nation of poets. From our revered national bard Dun Karm, via the writer's renaissance of the 1960s, right through to today's maturing and aspiring scribes, poetry runs through our veins just as surely as curry runs through a digestive system.
But we at Showtime have, we admit, been somewhat remiss in recognising the fact. So this month we would like to go some way towards redressing the balance with a leader piece on Maltese poetry. We asked a number of distinguished poets and commentators for their views on the state of poetry in our islands today.
Writer and translator Tony Cassar Darien offered the following observations: "I do feel very, very lucky to be alive at a moment where almost for the first time in this millennium, poetry is actually necessary. Behind our materialistic culture there's a whole lot of chaos, which confuses and frustrates us. Poetry helps us fight back.
"I like to attend the PoezijaPlus sessions held on the last Monday of the month. And as if by magic, we now find ourselves in the 10th year of PoezijaPlus."
Distinguished poet and thinker Maria Grech Ganado offered a different slant on the local poetry scene. She told Showtime: "I am mainly interested in the interaction between Maltese literature and foreign literary events, including the publication of translated work abroad, as e.g . the feature on Maltese poetry just published in The Drunken Boat.
"(It would seem that) one has to make a splash abroad before one is noticed here. (Indeed) Maltese poetry seems to meet with more interest abroad than it does here."
This theme of the prophet in his own land was put forward by several of the people we contacted. The somewhat esoteric and nebulous nature of poetry was also highlighted by the brilliant young poet Dunstan Attard, whose work has been published in poetry journals both here and overseas. He told us: "Poetry is demure in nature. It does not share the boisterous verve of popular songs or novels. Yet the writing of poetry is perhaps the art form that can best zoom efficiently and energetically into the capillaries of the writer's soul. Writers of poetry abound. Poetry‚ placed on the Yahoo search engine will provide more than 200 million entries.
"It is the reading of poetry that continues to be limited to small groups of devotees. Given its intrinsic character traits, poetry should not even try to be as popular as other more conventional art forms. Artists seeking popularity should steer well clear of poetry."
A fair point, but the burgeoning of poetic awareness in Malta and Gozo can be seen in the fact that when we at Showtime hold a writing competition that involves poetry, the response is totally overwhelming and the quality of the work submitted is hugely impressive. So any suggestion that the form is endangered or even dying in our islands is frankly absurd. A point taken up by another very talented Maltese poet, Natasha Turner. She feels that: "Poetry can never die, even though it is not popular with many, as everything is poetry, even a simple smile. Yet, since poetry hardly sells, few are those who publish books of it.
"I published two poetry books in Maltese about six years ago, yet nowadays I include my poems in every type of book I publish, even if they are story books for children or self-help books, and in my lyrics. I can never kill the poem as it would be like killing my spirit, my soul, myself."
It's perfectly true that nobody locally could ever dream of making a living as a poet. And yet poetry is enjoying an extremely successful time just now. The reticence of the general public to shell out a few euros on a book of verse is addressed by Joyce Guillaumier, who thinks something really should be done about it. She feels that: "Many maintain that Maltese poetry does not sell well and that there is no ready market for it - in spite of the many varied works written by poets of all ages. No serious research in this field has ever been undertaken. Isn't it time that Il-Kunsill Nazzjonali tal-Ktieb embarks on such a project?"
So despite everyone seemingly in agreement on the strength of the genre, poetry in the Maltese Islands is still very much, sadly, a minority art form.
But we at Showtime have, we admit, been somewhat remiss in recognising the fact. So this month we would like to go some way towards redressing the balance with a leader piece on Maltese poetry. We asked a number of distinguished poets and commentators for their views on the state of poetry in our islands today.
Writer and translator Tony Cassar Darien offered the following observations: "I do feel very, very lucky to be alive at a moment where almost for the first time in this millennium, poetry is actually necessary. Behind our materialistic culture there's a whole lot of chaos, which confuses and frustrates us. Poetry helps us fight back.
"I like to attend the PoezijaPlus sessions held on the last Monday of the month. And as if by magic, we now find ourselves in the 10th year of PoezijaPlus."
Distinguished poet and thinker Maria Grech Ganado offered a different slant on the local poetry scene. She told Showtime: "I am mainly interested in the interaction between Maltese literature and foreign literary events, including the publication of translated work abroad, as e.g . the feature on Maltese poetry just published in The Drunken Boat.
"(It would seem that) one has to make a splash abroad before one is noticed here. (Indeed) Maltese poetry seems to meet with more interest abroad than it does here."
This theme of the prophet in his own land was put forward by several of the people we contacted. The somewhat esoteric and nebulous nature of poetry was also highlighted by the brilliant young poet Dunstan Attard, whose work has been published in poetry journals both here and overseas. He told us: "Poetry is demure in nature. It does not share the boisterous verve of popular songs or novels. Yet the writing of poetry is perhaps the art form that can best zoom efficiently and energetically into the capillaries of the writer's soul. Writers of poetry abound. Poetry‚ placed on the Yahoo search engine will provide more than 200 million entries.
"It is the reading of poetry that continues to be limited to small groups of devotees. Given its intrinsic character traits, poetry should not even try to be as popular as other more conventional art forms. Artists seeking popularity should steer well clear of poetry."
A fair point, but the burgeoning of poetic awareness in Malta and Gozo can be seen in the fact that when we at Showtime hold a writing competition that involves poetry, the response is totally overwhelming and the quality of the work submitted is hugely impressive. So any suggestion that the form is endangered or even dying in our islands is frankly absurd. A point taken up by another very talented Maltese poet, Natasha Turner. She feels that: "Poetry can never die, even though it is not popular with many, as everything is poetry, even a simple smile. Yet, since poetry hardly sells, few are those who publish books of it.
"I published two poetry books in Maltese about six years ago, yet nowadays I include my poems in every type of book I publish, even if they are story books for children or self-help books, and in my lyrics. I can never kill the poem as it would be like killing my spirit, my soul, myself."
It's perfectly true that nobody locally could ever dream of making a living as a poet. And yet poetry is enjoying an extremely successful time just now. The reticence of the general public to shell out a few euros on a book of verse is addressed by Joyce Guillaumier, who thinks something really should be done about it. She feels that: "Many maintain that Maltese poetry does not sell well and that there is no ready market for it - in spite of the many varied works written by poets of all ages. No serious research in this field has ever been undertaken. Isn't it time that Il-Kunsill Nazzjonali tal-Ktieb embarks on such a project?"
So despite everyone seemingly in agreement on the strength of the genre, poetry in the Maltese Islands is still very much, sadly, a minority art form.