A collection of plays in Maltese called It-Tulipan l-Iswed (The Black Tulip) by playwright, poet and professor of philosophy Joe Friggieri was yesterday presented to Education Minister Louis Galea after hitting the bookstands last week.
After the presentation of the book published by Progress Press, Professor Friggieri who has also authored a book on philosophy said:
"The different genres are not conflicting. They complement each other. Literary and philosophical works represent different aspects of my character," he said.
Prof. Friggieri said the book includes five plays for children and another 15 for young adults that can also be performed in school by fifth and sixth formers.
All plays, he said, have already been "tried and tested" on stage and the ones for children have already been published in the magazine Saghtar, while the rest are being published for the first time.
He explained that the plays for children dealt with serious topics such as anti-racism and the environment while the ones for young adults lean more towards the comical side, with a touch of satire.
"They were written with young people in mind, with the characters themselves being young. They were written to be performed by young people, who could play characters who are more or less their own age," he said.
Prof. Friggieri said the themes are also quite contemporary, with most revolving around relationships that young people go through.
He said the book gets its name from the title of the first play.
Prof. Friggieri said there is great interest in the theatre among the younger generations. There was a lack of plays that could be easily performed and therefore the tendency was to go for foreign plays.
Austin Bencini, on behalf of Progress Press, said It-Tulipan L-Iswed was the first publication in Maltese by the publishing house in decades. He said this confirmed the renewed interest in Maltese literature and would be followed by other publications in Maltese.
Last week Progress Press published a collection of short stories originally written in Maltese by the same author.
The book - Tales For Our Times - translated into English by Paul Xuereb is aimed at the local reading public as well as at tourists.
"There are very few stories translated into English that deal with a Mediterranean atmosphere," Prof. Friggieri said.
The stories, he noted, can be read on a realistic plane but there was also an interface between reality and dreams.
"They are very poetic and would go down well with tourists who want to read short stories by a Maltese author that evoke the contemporary Mediterranean atmosphere," he added.